























Book._ - : \ ^ Q 

Copyriglitl\ TO ___ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 


CFO 





\ 






THE BROWN CASTLE 


\ 




“Once upon a time,” began the Princess .—Page 70 . 



THE 

BROWN CASTLE 


BY 

REBECCA RICE 

it 


ILLUSTRATED BY 
W. F. STECHER 



BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 













Copyright, 1926, 

By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 


All rights reserved 


The Brown Castle 



PRINTED IN U. S. A. 


IRorwooD lpress 

BERWICK & SMITH CO. 

NORWOOD. MASS. 


SEP23'26 

© Cl A950151 

/ H.e I 





CONTENTS 


Chapter 

i. The Castle . 

• • 

PAGE 

9 

Chapter 

2. The Strategy . . 

• • 

29 

Chapter 

3. The Conquest of 

THE 



Gang .... 

• • 

45 

Chapter 

4. The Discovery . . 

• a 

55 

Chapter 

5. The Lost Princess 

• • 

67 

Chapter 

6. Marjorie 

• • 

87 

Chapter 

7. The Winning of Reddy 



O’Toole 

• • 

102 

Chapter 

8. The Playhouse 

• • 

123 

Chapter 

9. The Gate-Leg Table 

• • 

139 

Chapter 

10. The Shadow . . 

• • 

150 

Chapter 

11. The Castle of Heart’s 



Delight . . . 

• • 

162 

Chapter 

12. A New Worry . . 

• • 

169 

Chapter 

13. The Coming of the King 

185 

Chapter 

14. More Magic . . . 

• • 

199 

Chapter 

15. The Surprise . . 

• • 

211 

Chapter 

16. Sea Wonders . . 

• • 

227 

Chapter 

17. Hydrada .... 


24O 

Chapter 

18. The Trunk . . . 

• • 

260 


5 





♦ 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


“Once upon a time,” began the Princess 

(Page 70). Frontispiece 

FACING 

PAGE 

They trooped down the stairs and into the 

parlor.64 

“She didn’t have any one to love her except 

a little sick grandmother” .... 190 

“Oh, Myrtle! The water has come up all 

around us”.254 


7 




THE BROWN CASTLE 


CHAPTER ONE 

THE CASTLE 

G randmother brown 

lifted her head from the red cal¬ 
ico cushion in her easy-chair 
and looked at the clock for perhaps the 
twentieth time. It was just four o’clock. 
Time does go so slowly when one wants 
something done and there is no one about 
to do it. However, Betty would soon be 
there and she would attend to everything. 

There was a great deal to do. Al¬ 
though spring was really on the way, as 
the few blades of grass and the lilac- 
branch with its swelling buds proved, it 
still was very cold. Grandmother was 


10 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


wrapped up in a worn shawl, but she shiv¬ 
ered. Betty would put coal on the fire. 

There were other tasks as well. The 
dinner dishes had not been washed and 
the place was mussy and untidy. Grand¬ 
mother Brown sighed. She wished that 
she could stir about and do things, but that 
was impossible. The burden of house¬ 
work and school was too much for Betty, 
who was only nine. 

Again her eyes strayed to the clock. 
Five minutes past! Betty was probably 
on her way home now. She would have 
something interesting to tell. Perhaps 
there would be a new story or song that she 
had learned in school. A step in the hall, 
a laughing voice, and the door opened. 
Betty had come. 

She paused a moment at the door for a 
final word to her companion, Myrtle 
O’Toole. “It won’t take a half an hour. 
If you get your work done first, call for 
me, and I will come for you if I beat.” 


THE CASTLE 


11 


A very pardonable look of pride crossed 
Grandmother’s face as Betty entered. 
From the crown of her curly golden- 
brown hair to the soles of her rather shabby 
footwear she was the finest-looking child 
in the whole block in the opinion of her 
relative. 

She welcomed her small granddaughter 
with a smile, eager as a child to hear about 
school affairs. She was interested in the 
new poem, the gold-fish that had just been 
given to the fourth-grade room, and about 
the lessons. Betty joyfully related all the 
news that she could think of as she washed 
the dishes and set the room to rights. As 
a final thrill, she drew forth an arithmetic 
paper marked with an imposing ioo and a 
red star. 

“It is the fourth red star I have had this 
term,” she explained. “When I get an¬ 
other one, my name goes up on the board 
with a gold star after it.” 

“That will be very nice,” responded 


12 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


Grandmother. “Your father always was 
a smart little boy.” 

Betty shook her head. “I’m not smart,” 
she replied sadly. “I just hate arithmetic. 
I made a dreadful mistake on the last exam¬ 
ple to-day, but just as Mary was picking up 
the papers I saw that I had put down an 
eight instead of a nine. I had just barely 
time to fix it. Wasn’t it lucky I found it?” 

Afterwards she told about the new 
playhouse that she and Myrtle had started 
in the lilac-bushes at the Castle. 

“Where?” asked Grandmother almost 
sharply. 

“We call the big brown house on the 
corner the Castle,” explained Betty. “It 
is so big and beautful and has a lovely 
yard. It is the only house on the whole 
street that has a yard.” 

“Is it still vacant?” asked Grandmother 
Brown excitedly. “Tell me, Betty, is it 
empty?” 

Betty nodded. “It has been empty for 


THE CASTLE 


13 


years, Grandmother. That is why all the 
children are going there to play. If it 
wasn’t for the Brown Castle we should all 
have to play in the street, and that would 
be horrid.” 

Grandmother shook her head. “For 
fifteen years,” she murmured, “for fifteen 
years and more, the old house has been 
empty. Hate closed its doors, and hate 
has kept them locked these many years.” 

Betty drew closer. She had always felt 
that some mystery was connected with the 
big boarded-up house. Perhaps Grand¬ 
mother could clear it up. “Tell me about 
it,” she begged. 

Grandmother shook her head. There 
was a hard look upon her face and her lips 
were closed in a tight line. Betty was 
worried. 

“You do not care whether I play there, 
do you, Grandmother?” she said wistfully. 

“No, child, no,” responded the old lady. 
“Indeed who has a better right?” she mut- 


14 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


tered to herself, but Betty did not heed her. 
Myrtle was at the door and Betty’s tasks 
were done. 

Now Myrtle was Betty’s best friend, and 
a very good friend she was. Myrtle never 
did anything by halves. She either loved 
or hated, and was most thorough in either 
emotion. Her friendship for Betty dated 
back three years when Betty first came to 
the city to live. 

Betty had come from the country and 
was all unused to the bustle of city life. 
The heavy trucks, electric cars, and auto¬ 
mobiles were a source of menace when she 
wanted to cross the street. She had held 
closely to her mother’s hand that first ter¬ 
rible journey from the dingy, crowded 
apartment-house to the school. 

She had hated the noise and confusion of 
that first day. With real fear had she 
gazed at the howling mob of shrieking 
boys and girls at play in the big school- 
yard. It was a dreadful moment when her 


THE CASTLE 


15 


mother, after consigning her to the care of 
the busy second-grade teacher, had gone 
away and left her. 

It had been a dreadful day. She had 
missed in her spelling-lesson and had been 
so nervous in the reading-class that she had 
burst into tears. The other pupils had 
made fun of her. It was worse on the way 
home, for she became the center of a small 
mob of jeering boys. 

“Mamma’s baby!” called one. 

“Ho, if I couldn’t spell ‘dishes’!” 
mocked another. 

“Baby, cry-baby!” yelled another. 

Then one of them had run against her so 
violently that he tipped her over into the 
gutter. It was then that Reddy O’Toole 
had arrived on the scene, a small but val¬ 
iant combination of red hair, hot temper, 
and muscle. What he did not do to the 
big Allen boy was not worth mentioning. 
Betty had been very grateful. 

Myrtle had been with Reddy. Warm- 


16 THE BROWN CASTLE 

hearted and impulsive, she had put a 
friendly arm about Betty and together they 
had gone home. That afternoon she had 
called for her. 

Several days later Betty had been told to 
stay after school. Her new teacher had 
wanted to see how much she had learned 
in the one-room country school. Betty 
did not realize that. She thought staying 
after school was the biggest disgrace and 
punishment that could be given to a boy 
or girl. Besides, there would be the walk 
home alone. 

It was not quite so bad as she had feared. 
The teacher was kind, even friendly. 
Betty lost some of her fear. Upon coming 
out of the school door twenty minutes later, 
whom should she find waiting for her but 
Myrtle? This indeed was a friend worth 
having. No wonder Betty loved Myrtle 
O’Toole. The friendship had only grown 
deeper and stronger with the years. 

Arm in arm they walked down the street 


THE CASTLE 


17 


to the Brown Castle. It was the favorite 
playground of nearly all the children in 
the neighborhood. The doors and win¬ 
dows had been barred so many years that 
the possibility of their ever being opened 
was not considered at all. 

For many years the old house had stood 
there empty. It had been beautiful in the 
days of long ago. A famous architect of 
a bygone century had planned its spacious 
rooms and wide halls. An equally famous 
landscape-gardener had arranged the beds 
of flowers and had set out the lilac-bushes. 
Then the old house was loved and cared 
for. Pride was taken in its fine grassy 
lawns. 

Now the grass was trampled upon. 
Well-defined bare spots marked out the 
site of a baseball diamond in the back yard. 
Small pockets in the front lawn loudly pro¬ 
claimed marbles to all interested in that 
pleasing form of amusement. Bits of 
broken crockery and glass in careful ar- 


18 THE BROWN CASTLE 

rangement down by the lilac-bushes 
showed where the playhouse was. 

There were many stories told of the old 
house. People could not understand why 
it was that a house completely furnished 
should be left vacant so long. Why had 
not the owner sold it, if he had not cared 
to make it his home? Some said that it 
was a haunted house, a house haunted by 
the ghost of a beautiful woman. Others 
said that it was infested with rats and mice 
that had driven away the last people who 
had tried to live there. One thing they all 
agreed upon. There was some strange 
story connected with it. It seemed queer 
that the owner had not sold the property 
to make way for a block of stores or an 
apartment-house. 

As Betty and Myrtle neared the Castle, 
Reddy O’Toole came running to meet 
them, followed by the rest of the gang. 
The girls could see that something had 
happened to excite them. 


THE CASTLE 


19 


“What do you suppose has happened?” 
gasped Reddy with what breath he had left 
after the race. 

“Tell us,” demanded Myrtle. 

“Where were you going?” he replied. 

“To the Castle to play,” she answered. 
“What has that to do with it?” 

“You’ll never go there again to play,” 
put in Spud. “None of us will. They 
won’t let us. Somebody is moving in this 
very minute.” 

“They’ll be moving out a lot quicker,” 
growled Reddy. “The gang is going to 
get after them Saturday. We won’t have 
folks spoiling the only baseball diamond 
anywhere around here. We’ll fix them.” 

“You bet,” replied Spud. “Come on, 
Red, we’ve got to let the rest of the gang 
know.” 

Myrtle and Betty walked sadly past the 
Castle several times. The boys had 
spoken truly. There were many signs of 
activity about the old place. Apparently 


20 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


the newcomers were turning the old house 
inside out. Ancient tables, chairs, beds, 
and bureaus were piled up in the yard. 
Carpets were being beaten by a whistling 
workman clad in blue overalls. A portly 
colored woman was polishing windows 
until they shone as the sun hit their sur¬ 
face. 

For the first time in many years, smoke 
rose from the chimney. The shutters 
were all down. The whole house looked 
as if it had just wakened from a long nap. 
The yard, however, was deserted by the 
children. Not a child hopped on the hop¬ 
scotch spot or tossed jacks on the cracked 
cement walk. 

“Til bet there will be two old maids that 
will take turns sitting at the window. The 
minute that they see one of us in the yard 
they will come out and chase us with a 
broomstick,” said Myrtle a trifle spitefully. 

Betty laughed. The idea of two old 
ladies chasing the lively Reddy amused 


THE CASTLE 


21 


her, although she was not in the laughing 
mood. 

“Perhaps there will be a little girl or boy 
move in,” she replied hopefully. 

The next afternoon they walked by the 
house again. And talked about the new 
people. Neither had seen them. Finally 
Myrtle’s curiosity could bear it no longer. 

“I am going right up and see,” she as¬ 
serted. 

“Mercy!” gasped Betty. “I’d never 
dare.” 

“You can wait for me by the gate,” re¬ 
plied Myrtle, as with an impudent swing 
to her shoulders she started up the weed- 
bordered path toward the house. Accord¬ 
ing to Mrs. Smith who lived in the same 
block, there wasn’t much that would 
frighten Myrtle O’Toole, but upon reach¬ 
ing the front door she hesitated. In spite 
of her bravado her heart beat more rapidly 
as she waited and listened. Then she rang 
the bell. 


22 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


As its tinkle died away, she heard some 
one coming through the hall and it took 
all her courage to stand and wait. The 
door was flung open and a vision of beauty 
stood before her astonished eyes. The 
vision was a very pretty young lady who 
smiled in a very friendly way. Her hair 
was golden and her eyes were blue. She 
looked like the picture of a princess that 
Myrtle had seen in a fairy-tale book. The 
princess who owned the Brown Castle! 
Why, it was like a story. 

Respect and admiration took the place 
of impudence. Surely one so pretty and 
sweet could not be cruel. Then more 
wonder crept into her face, for in the arms 
of the lovely lady was a doll as big as a 
really, truly baby. It was such a doll as 
Myrtle had never seen outside a shop win¬ 
dow. Myrtle just longed to take it into 
her arms. 

“I am so glad to have a caller so soon,” 
said the Princess pleasantly. “I was just 


THE CASTLE 


23 


wishing I had some one to take care of 
Isobel for me.” 

It was nice of the Princess to know that 
she had come to call. She hardly would 
have known what to say if she had been 
asked why she had come. The Princess 
seemed to know without having to be told. 
It was delightful to be treated in such a 
grown-up way. Myrtle decided that she 
was going to like the Princess very much 
indeed. 

“Is Isobel a little girl?” she asked as she 
stepped over the threshold into the house of 
mystery. 

“No,” smiled the Princess. “She is a 
baby, a doll baby, but I feel as if she wanted 
me to take care of her all the time and with 
this big house to settle, I feel as if I hadn’t 
the time.” 

Myrtle laughed. Then a sudden recol¬ 
lection of Betty patiently waiting by the 
gate came to her mind. 

“I’d love to,” she answered, “but there is 


24 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


Betty waiting for me at the gate. You 
haven’t got enough work for two little 
girls, have you?” she went on wistfully. 

“There is a big box of books in the mid¬ 
dle of the sitting-room floor that is dread¬ 
fully in my way,” replied the Princess. 
“Perhaps you and Betty would like to un¬ 
pack them for me. The bookcase is all 
put up ready for them.” 

“Oh I just love books!” cried Myrtle 
happily. “May I go after Betty?” 

“Run and get Betty, by all means,” 
laughed the Princess. 

That young lady was delighted, al¬ 
though just a little afraid of entering the 
house infested with rats and ghosts and 
which hate had closed years ago. One 
look, however, at the smiling face of Myr¬ 
tle’s Princess drove away her fears and 
soon both little girls were on their knees 
beside a huge wooden box, gazing with 
fascinated eyes at the process of opening. 

It was a most gifted Princess who could 


THE CASTLE 


25 


pry off the cover of such a big box so 
easily. Imagine owning enough books to 
fill such a huge box, anyway! The little 
girls watched with breathless interest when 
the Princess lifted the paper which cov¬ 
ered the books. When at last it was lifted, 
disclosing piles of the most fascinating 
books, a little cry of admiration broke from 
their lips. Was there ever another Prin¬ 
cess who read “Little Prudy,” “Alice in 
Wonderland,” or “The Wizard of Oz”? 
The box was filled to the brim with chil¬ 
dren’s books. Myrtle and Betty both had 
library cards and had read many books. 
Some of the ones in the box were old 
friends, but there were many new ones. 

“See, Betty,” whispered Myrtle, “all the 
Pepper Books are here. I have read only 
one of them.” 

“And here is ‘The Princess and the 
Goblin,’ ” answered her friend. “I’ve 
tried and tried to get it at the Library, but 
it is always out.” 


26 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


It was a very happy hour spent with the 
books, and how the time did slip away! 
It was such a temptation to sit right down 
and read. Myrtle did get absorbed in the 
delights of the “Blue Fairy Book” and 
even conscientious Betty forgot her duty 
when she discovered a sequel to her favor¬ 
ite “Princess Book.” The Princess 
looked into the room and smiled to see the 
two heads bending over the books that she 
herself had loved so dearly when she was 
a little girl. 

At half-past five, the Princess returned 
followed by a portly colored woman bear¬ 
ing in her arms a tray. On the tray was a 
blue plate heaped with crisp ginger- 
cookies and a pitcher filled with cocoa. 
There were also two of the prettiest cups 
that the children had ever seen. Betty’s 
was the shape of a rose. The saucer was 
a green leaf. Myrtle’s was a yellow daf¬ 
fodil. Both girls gave a little cry of ad¬ 
miration. 


THE CASTLE 


27 


“There is a story about the flower cups,” 
said the Princess. “They were brought 
from a far-away country as a present to the 
two little girls who lived in this house long 
ago.” 

It was nearly dark before the children 
left the brown house. The factory whis¬ 
tle, the usual signal for the children in the 
neighborhood to return to their respective 
homes, had long since blown, but still they 
lingered. What mattered a scolding if 
they could prolong the beautiful time they 
were having? Few such good times en¬ 
tered their lives, and the moments were too 
precious to lose a single one. In fact the 
Princess had gently to suggest their de¬ 
parture. 

She stood a moment in the doorway gaz¬ 
ing out into the deepening dusk. Then 
she turned back into the house. Aunt 
Sally was drawing the curtains. The 
lamplight cast a cheerful glow on the 
old-fashioned furniture. The Princess 


28 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


dropped wearily into a well-worn rocker. 
She was tired, very tired, but she was well 
content. She had made a fairly good start 
in securing the friendship and good will 
of the little girls. The boys would be 
more difficult. However, she was confi¬ 
dent that her experiment would be a suc¬ 


cess. 


CHAPTER TWO 


THE STRATEGY 

U PON arriving at the street the 
little girls seemed to forget that 
there was any reason for haste 
and went more slowly. It was dusk, and 
the lights were beginning to appear in the 
windows of the houses along the street. 
There was much they wanted to say before 
they separated for the night. 

“Did you ever see such story-books in 
all your life?” asked Betty. “All the ones 
that we like best and a whole heap that we 
never saw before! They were all for little 
girls, too.” 

“Do you know,” replied Myrtle, “I 
think perhaps she read them when she was 
a little girl?” 

“I think that there were other books that 


V 


3° 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


we didn’t see,” went on Betty thoughtfully. 
“There were other big boxes just like the 
one we unpacked in the hall.” 

“I shouldn’t be a bit surprised,” an¬ 
swered Myrtle. “Those we saw didn’t 
much more than fill up one shelf of that 
big bookcase.” 

It had been a wonderful afternoon that 
they had spent, quite unlike anything else 
they had ever experienced. Myrtle gave 
a little skip of pleasure. 

“Let’s not tell any one about it,” she 
whispered. “It seems like a fairy tale to 
me. She is the enchanted Princess who 
lives in the magic castle.” 

“Yes, the fairy Princess of the Land of 
Heart’s Delight,” replied Betty softly. 
“Mother used to tell me a story of it be¬ 
fore she went away. It was a lovely 
story.” 

Tears came into her eyes, as they always 
did when she thought of the dear mother 


THE STRATEGY 


3i 


who had gone away never to come back, 
and Myrtle put a sympathetic arm about 
her shoulders. It would be sad, thought 
Myrtle, to have no mother and no brothers 
or sisters. It would be horrid to sleep and 
cook, sit and eat, all in one room. Some¬ 
times there was hardly enough to eat at 
Betty’s house, and very often the good- 
hearted Mrs. O’Toole put up extra in the 
way of school lunches for Myrtle to share. 

“Let’s keep it a secret,” cautioned Myr¬ 
tle, as they climbed the last steps. 

“Yes,” agreed Betty. 

At the door they separated, Betty tiptoe¬ 
ing softly into the room at the left of the 
corridor while Myrtle skipped blithely a 
little way farther and entered a door at the 
right. 

She paused at the threshold. Two of 
the Brigham boys and Reddy O’Toole, her 
brother, were seated cross-legged on the 
floor. Their heads were together in a way 


32 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


painfully suggestive of mischief. Her 
mother was in the next room with the baby. 
Reddy was talking. 

“There’s no two ways about it, fellers, 
we’ve just got to drive them out.” 

“ ’Twon’t be hard,” put in Jimmy. 
“There’s nothing but that girl and the 
colored woman. Women are always 
skeered at things. We’ll get them out fast 
enough.” 

“Just wait till the gang gets busy to¬ 
morrow morning,” boasted Tommy. 

“Don’t forget, fellers, at five o’clock in 
the morning,” cautioned Reddy. 

That was all Myrtle heard, for her 
mother called her to wash up the next-to- 
littlest baby before supper. But it was 
enough. She well knew their powers of 
perseverence. To stop them was out of 
the question. Somehow she must warn 
the Princess of the enemies’ plan. It was 
like a fairy tale after all. 

How was she to do it? Even if she 


THE STRATEGY 


33 


should wake up before five o’clock, the 
Princess would probably be asleep. No, 
she must warn her that very night, but 
how? Mother woud never allow her to 
go out after supper, at least until the last 
baby was undressed, put to bed, and asleep. 
That would be too late. However, there 
was Betty. 

Betty’s grandmother was old and deaf. 
Betty could do just about what she pleased. 
The only obstacle was Betty’s timidity. 
She was afraid to go out all by herself. 
Perhaps her love for the Princess would 
help her out. Something must be done! 

“Mother,” she said, “I want to go over 
and speak to Betty a minute.” 

“Indeed you sha’n’t go out of this place 
to-night. The idea of you traipsing all 
over the place when I need your help. Go 
and feed Sammy, and don’t let me hear of 
your going out again to-night.” 

“But, Mother, please let me; it is impor¬ 
tant.” 


34 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


“Not another word from you, young 
lady. Look there now. Just because you 
were not careful, Sammy has spilled over 
Jenny’s soup,” was the angry retort. 

After mopping up the spilled soup, 
Myrtle returned to her work with desper¬ 
ation in her heart. Reddy was repairing 
an old sling-shot. Battle was in his eyes. 
It seemed as if the Princess’s windows 
were doomed. 

A yellow pad of paper and a pencil lay 
on the table. They belonged to Frances, 
the oldest O’Toole. She was in high 
school and usually her property was con¬ 
sidered sacred, but necessity knows no 
bounds. Silently as a cat, Myrtle secured 
one sheet of the paper, also the pencil. 
These she consigned to the depths of her 
pocket. 

But how should she get it to Betty as 
long as she could not take it herself? 
Reddy was the only answer to her ques¬ 
tion, but would he come to her assistance 


THE STRATEGY 


35 


against his own cause? A sudden inspi¬ 
ration came to her. 

Hastily she ran into the front room. 
Her mother in the kitchen was bending 
over the stove. The other members of the 
family were eating. On her paper she 
scrawled her message. Surely no brother, 
even one so clever as Reddy could read a 
meaning into that message. With satis¬ 
faction she folded it and slipped it back 
into her pocket. 

Luck was with her. Two ginger- 
cookies, remnants of the feast, were also 
in her pocket. It was comical to pay 
Reddy with cookies from the Princess to 
carry a message warning her of his own 
plans. In spite of her anxiety, Myrtle gig¬ 
gled at the thought of it. 

“Hey, Reddy,” she began as she rejoined 
the family. “Will you do something 
for me?” 

“Depends on what it is!” was the curt 
reply. 


36 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


“ ’Tisn’t much,” she answered. “Just 
run over and give this to Betty, will you?” 

“What is it?” he asked. 

“Just a joke. You can read it if you 
want to,” she replied carelessly. 

Reddy opened the note and read aloud 
with good-natured brotherly scorn: 

“The Fairy Princess is in danger. 
Even now soldiers are on their way to cap¬ 
ture the palace. Warn her of the danger 
without fail. I would if I could, but I 
can t. 

Reddy looked at his sister in disgust. 
“Of all the stuff!” he ejaculated. 

“I told you it was a joke. Please take 
it,” begged Myrtle. 

He stuffed it into his pocket and pulled 
out his hat. 

“What’ll you give me if I do?” he teased. 

Myrtle held up one of the ginger- 
cookies in a tantalizing fashion. The 
other she held behind her until the proper 
time to display it. 


THE STRATEGY 


37 


“I’ll give you this if you take it, and this 
if you bring back an answer,” she said. 

“Agreed,” answered Reddy, “though of 
all the silliness, it takes a girl every time.” 

Five minutes later he was back to claim 
the other half of his reward. In his hand 
was a note elaborately folded and sealed 
with a crooked safety-pin. Myrtle opened 
it eagerly, and read: 

“Dear Myrtle: 

“I am awfully afraid of facing the 
giants, witches, and soldiers, but it would 
never do to let the wicked things hurt the 
Princess. I’ll send my humming-bird 
messenger right away. 

“Betty. 

“P. S. What do you suppose she’ll do 
about it?” 

It was half-past eight when a little 
figure stole down the steps of the dingy 
apartment-block. How dark it was! 
Only the street lamps cast faint circles of 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


38 

light which seemed to make the surround¬ 
ing darkness more gloomy and terrifying. 
Shadows, horribly suggestive of the pic¬ 
tures of evil spirits, seemed to lurk in the 
doorways. Every now and then a truck 
or an electric car would rumble by, sound¬ 
ing ever so much louder than in the day¬ 
time. 

It was not a long walk to the brown 
house. It seemed to the timid Betty, how¬ 
ever, that each minute was an hour. A 
big dog barked with terrifying ferocity as 
she passed the market. At the crossing 
stood a burly policeman. Betty had never 
been taught that the policeman was one of 
her best friends. She was very much 
afraid of him. 

In her haste to pass this danger, she did 
not notice the big truck bearing down 
upon her. There was a grinding of 
brakes, a frightened cry from the driver 
and a quick swoop on the part of the po¬ 
liceman. He was just in time to snatch 


THE STRATEGY 


39 


the bewildered child from the danger that 
threatened her. 

“Well, well,” he said, and to Betty’s ears 
his voice was kinder than she imagined a 
policeman’s could be. “What’s all this? 
Were you trying to get run over, my 
dear?” 

“Oh, no, sir,” was the stammering an¬ 
swer, “I was going over there,” and she 
pointed to the house across the way. 

“All right, sister,” he said as he took her 
hand in his big one. “I’ll just see that you 
get there in safety.” 

At the gate he left her. Betty gave a lit¬ 
tle sigh of relief. She was safely there in 
spite of the perils she had passed through, 
and soon everything would be all right. 
She pulled at the jangling bell and then 
waited for the door to open. 

“Fo’ de Ian’s sake, chile, whatever 
brought you out at dis time of night?” ex¬ 
claimed Aunt Sally staring in amazement 
at the woe-begone little figure. 


40 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


Betty stumbled over the threshold and 
clasped the friendly dark hand in both of 
her own small ones. 

“Oh, please, may I speak with the Prin¬ 
cess?” she asked. 

Aunt Sally looked at her as if she did not 
understand the request. 

“De Princess?” she repeated. “Sholy 
chile, we ain’t got no Princess here.” 

Betty gasped. No Princess! All that 
dark trip for nothing! Surely there had 
been a Princess there that afternoon. 
Tears rolled down her cheeks and sobs 
shook her from head to foot. 

“For massy sakes!” exclaimed Aunt 
Sally gathering her into her ample em¬ 
brace. “You jest come in and tell Miss 
Virginia all about it.” 

In a very few minutes Betty was in her 
Princess’s arms pouring out the story of 
the Danger. 

“You see they are afraid that you won’t 
let them play ball any more or slide or any- 


THE STRATEGY 


4i 


# 

thing,” she explained. “They are not 
awfully bad boys except when something 
terrible happens, and you don’t know how 
bad they felt when they knew some one 
was going to live in this house. All the 
children used to play here, and they don’t 
want to have to go back to playing in the 
street.” 

The Princess held her in her arms 
and rocked back and forth. “Just as 
mother used to,” thought Betty. It would 
be terrible to have this lovely lady driven 
away. She lifted her head anxiously. 

“Reddy has been real nice to me,” she 
said. “He fought with a boy and licked 
him for teasing me. Are you going to tell 
the policeman?” she whispered. 

The Princess laughed. 

“What do boys like best of all, Betty?” 
she asked mischievously. 

Betty again raised her head and consid¬ 
ered with it a little to one side. Then she 
smiled. 


42 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


“Doughnuts,” she said, “and cake, and 
pie. Oh, they like things to eat.” 

Aunt Sally chuckled. 

“I’ve got an idea. You jes’ leave it to 
me, Miss Virginia,” she said. “I ain’t 
raised six children and five of them boys 
for nothing. I’ll jes’ settle the young ras¬ 
cals good and proper, but I’ll do it in a way 
that will make them your friends for life.” 

The Princess smiled down into Betty’s 
face. 

“You see, honey, things are going to be 
all right. Aunt Sally always knows just 
what to do, so you need not worry any 
longer.” 

It was nine o’clock. To Betty’s delight, 
a little bird popped out of a little door high 
up in the clock and with a violent flapping 
of its wings cuckooed nine times. Seeing 
the lateness of the hour, the Princess rose 
hastily. 

“Won’t your mother worry about you?” 
she asked. 


THE STRATEGY 


43 


Betty shook her head in denial. 

“There is only Grandma at home,” she 
explained, “and she goes to bed right after 
supper, ’cause she is very old.” 

Then she told about the beautiful mother 
that had become so sick that she was taken 
away in a big black automobile to the hos¬ 
pital and never came home again. She 
told about the feeble little grandmother 
who was too old to take care of herself, 
even. The little story was simply told, but 
it filled the tender eyes of the Princess with 
tears. One dropped down upon Betty’s 
head. Aunt Sally openly wiped tears 
from her own eyes on the corner of her 
apron. 

Betty looked at them with amazement. 
She knew that she was sad because of her 
loss, but to have the Princess in tears! 
Why, the Princess must love her a little bit, 
if her story made her feel so bad! Betty 
threw loving arms about the Princess. 
From then on she was the best-beloved ob- 


44 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


ject in Betty’s world. Surely no other face 
was so sweet, except Mother’s. 

Then Aunt Sally brought in a glass of 
milk and more of the crisp ginger-cookies. 
After this repast, she was so sleepy that she 
hardly knew when Aunt Sally wrapped her 
up and took her back home. 


CHAPTER THREE 


THE CONQUEST OF THE GANG 

T HE burr of their father’s alarm 
clock woke both Myrtle and 
Reddy at five o’clock. As si¬ 
lently as a cat, Reddy slipped out of bed 
and began to draw on his trousers. It does 
not take an active boy long to dress. 
Reddy would have considered himself 
sadly abused if his mother had called him 
at such an early hour. He had been 
known to take a good half-hour to dress 
when some unpleasant errand was ex¬ 
pected of him. However, there was no 
time wasted on this particular morning. 
He was all eagerness to be up and off be¬ 
fore his father was dressed. Such little de¬ 
tails as washing himself and brushing his 
hair were completely overlooked. 

45 


46 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


As soon as Reddy had tiptoed out of the 
house, cautiously holding his shoes in his 
hand, Myrtle herself was up and doing. 
Suppose Betty had failed? Suppose she 
had been afraid to go out into the dark 
streets alone? Myrtle well knew her 
friend’s timidity. 

In spite of her own fears, Myrtle made 
up her mind to see the actions of the gang 
and to stop them if possible, even though 
it might bring their wrath upon her un¬ 
lucky head. 

It did not take her much longer to dress 
than her brother, although she did take the 
time to smooth out her tangled black hair 
and to tie it back out of her eyes with a red 
ribbon. To wash, she did not dare, for the 
kitchen faucet made such a racket. 

She was farther delayed by her father’s 
leisurely activities in the next room. It 
would be fatal to the success of her trip 
for her father to know of her desire to 
leave the house so early in the morning. 


THE CONQUEST OF THE GANG 


47 


He would instantly fear that she was 
in mischief, and would forbid her going 
out. 

The street seemed strangely silent when 
she reached it. A solitary milk-wagon 
jangled past, driven by a very sleepy- 
looking boy, but not another soul was in 
sight. She looked up and down the street, 
hoping to locate the whereabouts of her 
brother, but not a sight of his red head re¬ 
warded her search. Evidently he was in 
hiding, waiting for the rest of the gang to 
make their somewhat tardy approach. 

Taking pains to go by the back way, 
Myrtle gained the Castle without being 
seen. Smoke was coming from the chim¬ 
ney. They must be very early risers. It 
made her errand easier, and she was glad. 

Quick as a flash she crossed the wide 
lawn that separated the house from the 
back street, for in the distance she saw the 
red head of her brother at the trysting- 
place, the blackened ruins of a house that 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


48 

had recently burned to the ground. Aunt 
Sally had evidently seen her approach, for 
she flung wide the door and drew the 
breathless child inside. 

“It’s all right, honey,” she said. “Aunt 
Sally knows all about it and so does Miss 
Virginia. She’s in the parlor. You jes’ 
run in and set with her.” 

Myrtle crossed the hall and gently 
pushed open the door. The Princess was 
more lovely than ever. Her hair was 
loose, flowing over her shoulders in a most 
princess-like way. She wore a blue silk 
wrapper of a wonderful shade. As 
Myrtle pushed open the door, she smiled 
a welcome and held out her hand. 

“Come over here with me, my dear, and 
we will watch the fun,” she said. 

Myrtle skipped across the room and was 
soon curled up on the old sofa beside her 
Princess. Both looked out of the win¬ 
dow. 

An old picket fence, rather dilapidated, 


THE CONQUEST OF THE GANG 49 

it is true, ran around the whole property. 
Huge wooden gate-posts of a style rather 
ancient now were on either side of the 
front walk. The gate itself rested in the 
dump in the back of the barn. 

On top of one of the gate-posts was an 
object that made Myrtle open her eyes 
wide with surprise, for it was the last thing 
one expects to find on the front post. A 
big, shiny, new dish-pan rested there. In 
it were brown things, but what they were 
Myrtle could not make out. 

A small stick bearing a sheet of note- 
paper was stuck up like a little flag inside 
the pan. Myrtle gazed with questioning 
eyes at the Princess. 

“What is it?” asked the child. 

“Wait and see what happens,” replied 
the Princess. 

At this moment Aunt Sally bustled into 
the room chuckling. 

“Dey’s headed dis way, Miss Virginia, 
with the red-headedest little boy I ever see 


5 ° 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


in the lead. I think dat dey see de dish- 
pan, for dey’s headin’ toward de front of 
de house.” 

The Princess dropped the lace curtain 
in front of them so that they could see 
everything that went on without being 
seen by the boys. Myrtle waited with in¬ 
terest and fear. 

It was interesting to watch the boys ap¬ 
proach, for they were so very cautious 
about it. Only now and then did the 
glimpse of the brilliant head of Reddy 
O’Toole betray their whereabouts. Myr¬ 
tle knew that sling-shots were close at hand 
and that each boy had a pocketful of am¬ 
munition. Why, oh, why had not the 
Princess closed the blinds of the palace? 
She was not even nervous. Myrtle could 
not understand it. 

Meanwhile Reddy and his gang drew 
nearer. They were almost at the front 
gate now. Myrtle could see that Reddy 
was taking careful aim with the sling-shot. 


THE CONQUEST OF THE GANG 51 

Evidently he was going to knock the pan 
from the gate-post. Just as he was about 
to let go, his chum knocked the stone from 
the sling. 

“Wait a minute, you idiot,” he said, “I 
want to see what it is out here for.” 

He seized the paper on the stick and 
read it to himself hastily. 

“Lookit, fellers,” he cried exultantly, 
“just lookit!” 

He waved the paper over his head and 
gave a small whoop of delight as he read 
aloud: 

“Help yourselves, boys, and come back 
at half-past ten to earn some more.” 

“What do you know about that?” ex¬ 
claimed Tubby, diving into the pan with 
both hands. 

“M-m-m-m, doughnuts! Ain’t they 
swell?” mumbled another, his mouth full 
of the dainty comestible. 


52 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


“Will we come back at ten-thirty? I’ll 
say we will,” said another. 

Only Reddy was silent. Only Reddy’s 
face wore a frown, and seeing it, his sister’s 
face clouded. She knew very well what 
Reddy’s fits of anger were like, for she had 
experimented with his quick temper. 

“It’s a frame-up,” he sputtered. “Some 
one’s squealed on us and I’m going to 
find out who it is. I’ll fix ’em. Come on, 
fellers, you ain’t going back on me, are 
you?” 

“It’s doughnuts,” said Joe. 

“With sugar sprinkled on,” added 
Tubby. 

“Where’s your common sense, Red?” 
put in Spud. “Even if they did get wind of 
our plans, it seems to me they acted pretty 
decent about it. Why, they might have 
warned the cop, and then we would have 
been in hot water for fair.” 

“I’ll bet that folks that would give 
doughnuts to boys would let them play 


THE CONQUEST OF THE GANG 


53 


baseball in the back yard,” added Joe. 

“All right, fellers, hang about them if 
you want to. I ain’t a-going to. That’s 
flat, and if you do, it’ll bust up our gang as 
far as I am fixed. You can have either me 
or these folks,” cried Reddy facing them 
with angry eyes. 

“You’re dead wrong, Red,” said Spud. 

An angry, sore-hearted boy walked 
away from the brown house with venge¬ 
ance and sorrow in his heart, for the 
gang was very dear to him. He was an 
outcast. 

Shame and sorrow were in Myrtle’s eyes 
as she faced her Princess, for Reddy was 
in disgrace. He was her brother and had 
done something that was sure to make the 
Princess unhappy. How would the Prin¬ 
cess feel towards her? Would she ever 
forgive Reddy? Myrtle knew that she 
would be unhappy unless he was forgiven, 
for she loved her brother dearly. 

“Don’t worry, dear,” said the Princess. 


54 THE BROWN CASTLE 

“He will be sorry by and by, and I am al¬ 
most sure we will win him yet.” 

Myrtle smiled, but it was a long time, 
judging by a child’s standard, before 
Reddy O’Toole joined the Princess’s 
court of admirers. 


CHAPTER FOUR 


THE DISCOVERY 

A T ten o’clock Virginia went out 
and began to rake the lawn. It 
was hard work, for the dried 
grass was long and matted. Little green 
shoots were coming up and the buds were 
swelling on the lilac-bushes along the 
fence. Just being alive was a pleasure. 

As she worked, her thoughts ran ahead, 
and in her mind she could see where now 
was desolation and dried grass, in a few 
months could be a garden of rare, beauti¬ 
ful blossoms. It was not a garden of 
flowers she was thinking of, but a garden 
of children, children many of her ac¬ 
quaintances and aristocratic friends might 
consider weeds, but who she was sure 
had big possibilities. 

55 


56 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


At this point in her thoughts she became 
aware of a 'small boy leaning over the 
fence, but by no gesture or look did she let 
him know that she knew he was there. 
Robert Stanford was there for duty fully 
fifteen minutes before the time specified. 
Virginia continued her raking with un¬ 
diminished ardor, whistling softly a rol¬ 
licking little tune. To all intents and 
purposes, Spud might have been in China 
for all she knew or cared. 

He leaned over the fence and frankly 
stared. This was a different kind of girl 
from any he was acquainted with. Be¬ 
sides, he had very nearly done this un¬ 
usually attractive young person a wrong, 
and he was rather ashamed. Not that he 
would have admitted it for worlds, but he 
silently made up his mind that he would 
show that he was sorry by helping to the 
best of his ability. Still Virginia raked, 
raked as though her life depended upon it. 


THE DISCOVERY 


57 


“Say,” he remarked after a moment’s 
pause, “those doughnuts were swell.” 

Virginia looked up with a smile, “I’m 
glad you liked them. Did you come to 
earn some more? Aunt Sally is frying 
some this minute.” 

Spud grinned and wrinkled up his nose. 

“If there is one thing I really like to eat, 
it’s hot doughnuts,” he replied. “Give me 
that rake.” 

Within the next quarter of an hour, 
Tubby and Joe were hard at work picking 
up stones and carting off rubbish. A 
huge pile of all burnable substance was 
made in the back yard for what Joe said 
was to be the biggest bonfire ever seen in 
these parts. 

Myrtle and Betty had also come to the 
brown house bringing with them Doris 
and Jeanette. For each the Princess 
seemed to have some pleasant task. The 
bars were down and the children flocked 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


58 

back to their playground, now doubly 
precious in view of their fear of losing it 
forever. 

It was a busy, happy morning. Out¬ 
doors a busy rake pulled together all dried 
grass and twigs, and the pile of rubbish 
grew with each new armful of rakings. 

A robin hopped cheerfully along in the 
weed-grown garden, picking for plump, 
juicy worms. His mate was looking up 
tenements. She had almost decided upon 
building in the wistaria vine over the 
porch, but was waiting to see whether all 
the stir about the old house meant danger. 

In the house, things were doing also. 
Aunt Sally, having finished the dough¬ 
nuts, was cleaning the pantry, washing 
dishes that had long lain idle on the 
shelves. At her side were Myrtle and 
Jeanette, listening with wide-open eyes to 
the tale of how Br’er Coon made off with 
old Mass’ Possum’s dinner. 

Betty and Doris were in the garret with 


THE DISCOVERY 


59 


the Princess. It was a spooky place, very 
dark and quite smelly. The Princess 
threw open the dusty windows and pushed 
aside the heavy overhanging creepers. It 
made the place much less gloomy. A 
garret was a new experience to these chil¬ 
dren accustomed to city tenements. It 
was a mysterious place where they might 
expect to find almost anything. It was a 
most interesting pastime to clean it, and a 
dusty one as well, as several sneezes pro¬ 
claimed, for Doris’s use of the broom was 
more energetic than discreet. 

Each little girl had her hair tied up 
in an old-fashioned dust-cap and each 
wielded a dust-pan, mop, or broom. The 
Princess was struggling with an old 
bureau. 

“It’s too heavy, Princess,” said Betty. 
“Just wait a minute till I run down and 
get Spud and Brick. They are awfully 
strong.” 

Spud and Brick were proud of their 


6o 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


muscle, and soon had the furniture moved 
to the Princess’s liking. The only ac¬ 
cident that occurred was when an old bu¬ 
reau, unused to being handled, tottered and 
fell, disclosing any amount of old clothes. 

The Princess only laughed. What 
funny old clothes they were! Queer, old, 
balloon-like sleeves, tight bodices, and 
flounced skirts of wild and wonderful 
colors. Some were of silk, old and 
cracked, others were of wool, and some of 
gay-colored calico. 

“Some of them will be good for dressing 
up and playing house,” said the Princess, 
“and some we will make into dolls’ 
things.” The children fell upon her with 
hugs and kisses. 

“We’ll shake them out, and carry them 
down and lay them across the bed in your 
room, Princess,” said Betty, busily piling 
up as many as she could carry. 

“Don’t trip on the stairs,” cautioned 
Doris. “You’ve got an awful big load.” 


THE DISCOVERY 


61 


“I’ll be careful,” answered Betty. 

It took many trips to carry all the old 
clothing downstairs. The boys carted the 
pieces of the old bureau out to the shed 
that joined the barn. 

“We can make things of the pieces,” said 
Brick, who was of an inventive turn of 
mind. The girls with Jeanette and Doris 
were perched on the foot of the bed watch¬ 
ing, while the Princess shook out the old 
garments. 

The woolen ones were hopelessly 
spoiled, for the moths had riddled them 
with holes. 

“Such a shame. Just look at this one,” 
said Betty holding up a crimson gown 
trimmed with little bands of silk and red 
cut-glass buttons. 

“We must save those buttons, girls. 
Perhaps you would like to cut them off for 
me, Betty. Here are the scissors,” sug¬ 
gested the Princess. 

“We ought to save the lace on all these 


6 a THE BROWN CASTLE 

woolen things, for some of it is lovely,” 
put in Doris. 

“Let me rip, too,” said Myrtle as she 
watched Betty carefully snipping off red- 
glass buttons. “I am sure I can do it 
beautifully.” 

“We will let you take care of that, then, 
while the other girls may help me down¬ 
stairs.” 

“Isn’t this fun?” asked Doris, as she 
carefully ripped some ecru lace from a 
brown cashmere dinner gown. “See how 
fine I am!” she said as she threw the lace 
over her yellow head. “I’m a bride.” 

“I would like to know who wore all 
these old things,” said Myrtle thought¬ 
fully. “It’s loads of fun to rummage in 
an old house that has been shut up for 
years. Even the Princess herself does not 
know all the secrets of this house.” 

They snipped away for nearly a quarter 
of an hour in happiness. The pile of 


THE DISCOVERY 


63 


laces and cast-off woolen pieces grew 
higher and higher, and the dress pile di¬ 
minished. Still Betty worked upon the 
red dress. 

“That is the twenty-fourth red button 
that I have ripped off this dress,” she said 
finally, “and they are all sewed on strongly 
with little tiny bits of stitches.” 

She gathered them up as she spoke and 
poured them from one hand to another. 
Then she turned the garment over to see 
whether she had missed any. After some 
search she saw that all were off except a 
few on one pocket. She put her hand in 
the pocket, but drew it out again in sur¬ 
prise. 

“Girls, there is something in this 
pocket,” she cried drawing forth a small 
lace-trimmed handkerchief and a small 
box. “I wonder what can be in it,” she 
went on, turning it over and over. 

“Let’s look,” suggested Doris. 


64 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


“Oh, no!” answered Betty, “we must 
take it to the Princess.” 

They trooped down the stairs and into 
the parlor bubbling over with a sense of 
mystery and curiosity. Then three work¬ 
ers looked up in surprise. In breathless 
haste all talking at once they poured out 
their discovery. The Princess laughed 
and put her hands to her ears. 

“One at a time, I beg of you,” she said. 

Betty displayed the box to the interested 
Princess and explained how she came to 
have it in her possession. 

“Open it,” said the Princess, “and let 
me see what you have found.” 

With eager fingers and sparkling eyes 
Betty opened the box and lifted some cot¬ 
ton that was under the lid. They all gave 
an exclamation of surprise and delight, for 
beneath the cotton was a string of quaint 
and curiously cut beads, seemingly made 
of red garnet and set between links of dull 



They trooped down the stairs and into the parlor 

Page 04. 











THE DISCOVERY 


65 


gold. The Princess lifted it from its 
resting-place. The light sparkled on the 
stones. It was perfect except for one de¬ 
tail. There were supposed to be two 
pendants held together by links of gold 
upon which was suspended a larger pend¬ 
ant. The middle pendant, the most ex¬ 
quisite of all, was missing. 

“It looks as if there was a story about it,” 
whispered Doris, bending over it for a 
more careful look. 

“I think there is,” said the Princess, “or 
at least it is the part of another story. I 
shall be able to tell it to you this afternoon, 
but now I am sure that the boys are on 
the point of starvation, so we will ask Aunt 
Sally for the doughnuts.” 

“Didn’t we say it was like a fairy tale?” 
whispered Betty to Doris. “I should not 
be a bit surprised to see a prince come rid¬ 
ing by, or a bag of gold hidden on the 
place. Perhaps the chain is an enchanted 


66 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


necklace of truth, or something like that.” 

“It’s wonderful,” replied her friend 
softly. 

“The nicest part about it,” answered 
Betty, “is that it seems as if it was for us.” 


CHAPTER FIVE 


THE LOST PRINCESS 

E \ VEN before the Princess had fin¬ 
ished her dinner, the children had 
J begun to gather on her front 
piazza. She would have gone out to 
them if Aunt Sally had not put her foot 
down firmly. 

“Them children will have to give you a 
breathing spell,” she asserted. “What 
would your grandfather say to me, I’d like 
to know, if I let you get all tuckered out! 
You were up before five o’clock this morn¬ 
ing, and you ought to be lying down this 
minute.” 

Lying down was the last thing that the 
Princess had thought of doing, but ever 
since she had been a little girl she had been 

67 



68 THE BROWN CASTLE 

in the habit of taking her old nurse’s ad¬ 
vice. Leaving Aunt Sally to explain to 
the children that she would not be out until 
later, she went upstairs to lie on the bed 
where her mother used to sleep many 
years before. Although she herself had 
never seen the old house, it seemed like 
home. 

It was a warm day of early spring, so 
coats and hats had been discarded. It 
was quiet and peaceful on the piazza. 
The little girls rocked in the new green- 
and-white hammock and talked softly so 
as not to annoy the Princess. Spud and 
Tubby bent over a mouse-trap that they 
were trying to make out of a cigar-box. 

The robin, having finally decided to 
risk the stir about the old house and to 
build his nest in the rose-vine that strag¬ 
gled up the piazza posts, was industri¬ 
ously picking up bits of string and ravel- 
ings from a carpet considered too old to 
bring back into the house. Mr. Robin 


THE LOST PRINCESS 


69 


was busy getting his innings before the 
junk man came. 

Simpson’s cat, a long-legged yellow one, 
with a scratch running the whole length of 
his nose, saw him and, flattening down on 
his stomach, began to creep closer. Mrs. 
Robin from her point of vantage in the 
rose-vine chirped a warning but her mate 
did not heed her. A well-directed ball 
thrown, by Spud frightened Mr. Robin 
and made the cat change his mind. 

Mr. Robin joined Mrs. Robin in the 
vine and was lectured for his carelessness. 

The Princess arrived just in time to see 
the cat go over the fence. Spud re¬ 
claimed his ball. Mrs. Robin was sput¬ 
tering in the rose-vine and Mr. Robin was 
trying to explain. At least so it seemed 
to the children. 

“The robins always used to build their 
nests in the vine,” said the Princess, “and 
there used to be swallows and pigeons in 
the barn.” 


70 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


“Did you use to live here?” asked Myr¬ 
tle with wide-open eyes. “My mother 
said that some one told her that this house 
had been closed for twenty years.” 

“You don’t look much older than that,” 
said Spud frankly. 

The Princess laughed. 

“I see you are going to be interested in 
my story right away,” she teased. 

“Is it a true story?” asked Tubby. 

“Oh, I hoped it was going to be a fairy 
tale!” sighed Doris. 

“It is a true story, but we will tell it like 
a fairy tale, so both the girls and the boys 
will be pleased,” compromised the Prin¬ 
cess. “See if you can tell the truth from 
the fiction.” 

Betty gave a little wriggle of satisfac¬ 
tion, and slipped her arm about the neck 
of the Princess. It had been nearly a year 
since any one had told stories to her. 

“Once upon a time,” began the Princess 
just as all stories should begin, “there was 


THE LOST PRINCESS 


7i 


a king who lived in a beautiful brown 
castle surrounded by beautiful gardens 
of bright flowers. It was a very attractive 
garden and the two little princesses that 
belonged to the king loved to play under 
the clump of lilac-bushes or sail their chip 
boats in the little pond at the foot of the 
garden. 

“Truly it was a pleasant place, and the 
king loved it better than any other spot in 
the world. He loved the broad fields of 
his neighbors that stretched all about him. 
He loved the apple-trees which bore shell¬ 
like blossoms in the spring, but most of all 
he loved his little daughters, whom we 
shall call the first and the second princess. 

“Now the first little princess was a great 
deal older than the second little princess, 
and, because the lovely queen mother no 
longer was alive, she tried to be a little 
mother to her sister, and they loved each 
other mightily. 

“It came to pass that as the years went 


72 THE BROWN CASTLE 

by, the first little princess grew up into a 
young lady princess, and a knight from 
the sunny South who had come to the cas¬ 
tle to visit fell in love with her and married 
her. She loved him so well that she 
agreed to go away with him to the far-off 
Southland, although it was very hard to 
leave her beloved home, her father, and 
her dear little sister. But they told her 
that they could get along very nicely. 

“At this time the king was very much 
disturbed. A puffing, snorting factory 
had been built very near his land. Of 
course the men who worked in the factory 
had large families of little children whom 
they wanted near them. Some of the 
king’s neighbors sold their land or built 
long rows of ugly apartment-houses upon 
places where once there had been beauti¬ 
ful fields, orchards, and woodlands. 
And the king was saddened by the change. 

“More and more land was sold and more 
and more factories, tenement-houses, and 


THE LOST PRINCESS 


73 


stores were built. Most of the king’s old 
friends had sold their land and moved 
away to a different part of town. 

“Many people wanted to buy the king’s 
land. They wanted to tear down the cas¬ 
tle and build houses and stores on the 
king’s ground. The little pond where 
the little princesses had fed their ducks 
and sailed their boats dried up, for it no 
longer was fed by the sparkling little 
brook that used to flow into it. The 
king’s heart was sore, and with anger and 
bitter words he drove away all who wanted 
to buy the castle. 

“And meanwhile the second little prin¬ 
cess was growing up. From a pretty 
little girl princess she grew into a beauti¬ 
ful young lady princess, and she was sorry 
for the little children of the poorer people 
who moved into the crowded houses and 
had no real place to play. As the king 
had forbidden their ever entering the gar¬ 
den, the second princess would meet them 


74 THE BROWN CASTLE 

by the gate and talk to them. Sometimes 
she would fill their hands with sweet lilac 
blossoms and sometimes she would tell 
them stories of fairies, goblins, and 
witches. 

“The children loved her with all their 
hearts and sometimes wove pretty stories 
in which she played the important part. 
They called her a princess imprisoned be¬ 
hind bars of an impassable fence and 
guarded by a terrible, white-haired giant. 
The king did not approve of her entertain¬ 
ing them, but never forbade her doing it. 

“There was one man who was espe¬ 
cially desirous of buying the land on 
which the castle stood. It would mean a 
great deal of money if he could get pos¬ 
session of it. Time and time again he ap¬ 
proached the king with proposals to buy 
the land, but each time the king refused 
him with greater fury than before. 

“Finally as a last hope, he sent his 
younger brother, thinking that the young 


THE LOST PRINCESS 


75 


man’s pleasant ways and ability might 
make him successful where his older 
brother had failed. It seemed as if all his 
hopes were centered on the king’s castle. 

“Now the king was in a particularly bad 
temper that morning. In the first place 
all the roses from an especially rare bush 
had been stolen in the night. He had just 
gotten word that the taxes were going to 
take a lot more money, and he had a bad 
headache. It was really not a wise time 
for any one to ask him to do something he 
did not want to do, but the young Mr. 
Brown did not know that. 

“The words ‘selling land’ were to the 
king like a red rag to a bull. He stamped 
his foot and drove the young man from his 
house with bitter words. 

“The second princess was in the garden 
when the young man strode angrily down 
the path and he saw her there. All the 
anger in his heart was replaced by admira¬ 
tion, for she was as beautiful as the sun in 


76 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


his sight. She was dressed in a soft crim¬ 
son cashmere dress and about her neck she 
wore a quaint string of curiously cut red 
beads. Her arms were about one of the 
poorest and raggedest of all the little chil¬ 
dren. 

“It would make the story too long to tell 
how he met her, but before another sum¬ 
mer came around he came back to the cas¬ 
tle to tell the king that he loved the 
princess and to ask for her hand in mar¬ 
riage. If the king was angry before, he 
was furious now. He forbade his daugh¬ 
ter to speak to the young man. So trou¬ 
bled he was over the whole affair that he 
began to make plans to take his daughter 
away, hoping that she would never again 
see Mr. Brown. 

“The princess felt differently, for she 
loved the young man better than the castle, 
or the king, or anything else in the whole 
wide world. She grieved and drooped 
like a rose that had been cut from its bush. 


THE LOST PRINCESS 


77 


The king grieved, too, for he loved his girl 
and honestly thought that he was doing the 
best thing for her happiness. Finally she 
could stand it no longer. She left the cas¬ 
tle and the king to begin life anew with the 
man who, to her, was a prince. 

“The king couldn’t understand it. He 
was hurt, but his anger was undiminished, 
and he did not reply to the loving letter she 
left for him except to pack up some of her 
things and send them to her. Among 
these things were certain clothing, some 
things that had belonged to her mother, 
and part of the chain which the princess 
had broken. The biggest part he could 
not find to send. 

“Weeks and months passed. The cas¬ 
tle grew dark and gloomy in his sight. 
He determined to board up the windows 
and close its doors forever. The first 
princess had invited him to come and live 
with her in the sunny South. The castle 
was deserted. The king’s hearty step no 



THE BROWN CASTLE 


78 

longer was heard on the path. No little 
princess sailed boats on the little pond. 
The garden became overgrown with 
weeds. The pond was filled in with rub¬ 
bish and cinders. The whole place was 
deserted by those who had once loved it so 
dearly. 

“Years passed. The garden once more 
became the playground of little children, 
for the little people of the tenements 
claimed it for their own. Again the lilac- 
bushes looked down upon playhouses. 
Tops were spun on the walk, and childish 
voices made the old garden rejoice. 

“Meanwhile far away in the sunny 
South, things were happening. A tiny 
little girl baby came to the first prin¬ 
cess, and how the king did love that baby! 
All the anger in his heart dried up and was 
gone, for it seemed as if the baby came 
bringing love in her little hands. The 
king was sorry that he had been so cruel, 
and he determined to write a loving letter 


THE LOST PRINCESS 


79 


to his other daughter, addressing it to the 
place she had given as her future home. 
On the back of the letter he put the return 
address. 

“The letter came back unopened. On 
it was written that Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
had gone away, leaving no address. 

“More years went by with no one hear¬ 
ing a word from the second princess. 
The little Virginia was a big girl thirteen 
years old when the first letter came. It 
was merely the announcement of the birth 
of little Anne Brown. It was addressed 
to the first princess, but on no place was 
the address of the second princess. 

“Six years later another letter came from 
the second princess, but such a ragged 
one! It looked as though it had gone all 
over the country and had been nibbled by 
mice. It was eagerly opened. 

“Sad news it contained. Only dire ne¬ 
cessity had forced her to write. Her hus¬ 
band was dead and she herself not well. 


8 o THE BROWN CASTLE 

Her little girl was the delight of her heart, 
and it was for her sake that she was appeal¬ 
ing for help. If anything happened to 
her, would her sister take her little girl? 

“The king wiped tears from his specta¬ 
cles when he finished the little note. 
Right away he would go to his daughter 
and erase the bitterness of the years of sep¬ 
aration. Then he looked for the address. 
It was gone, nibbled off to help make the 
bed of some baby mice somewhere. Ah, 
it was bitter. Only a tiny scrap of the ad¬ 
dress was there. Together they pored 
over it, trying to get some clue. Only 
three letters, but they were from a part of 
the city he had lived in. He determined 
to go back to his old home and try to find 
his daughter. 

“The king’s granddaughter Virginia 
was much excited over the idea of having 
her aunt and little cousin come. It would 
seem almost like having a little sister. 
She put the nicest bedroom in order for the 


THE LOST PRINCESS 81 

second princess, and arranged her old 
playroom for the little lost princess, as she 
called the little cousin. Then they waited. 

“Weeks went by. The king had not 
been able to find his daughter. He had 
put advertisements in the paper. He had 
gone to all the hospitals and orphan asy¬ 
lums, but nowhere could he find a trace of 
the second princess or the little lost Anne. 
He knew that they were poor, unhappy, 
and sad. Perhaps his daughter was dead. 
Perhaps his grandchild was in the hands 
of careless, unloving people. Wherever 
they were, they needed him, and yet he 
could not come to their assistance. It was 
pitiful. 

“He could not bear the sight of his old 
home. While he was in the city, he stayed 
in a hotel and never walked by the old 
house where once he had been so happy. 

“After several months of vain search he 
returned to the South, a broken-hearted 
man. Somewhere was his little grand- 


82 THE BROWN CASTLE 

child, neglected and in poverty. There 
were many unhappy children in the world. 
In his search he had seen them. Some 
were not properly fed. Others had no 
place to play, or any one to care how they 
played, or what they did. 

“He thought of the children who lived 
near his old home. He had once driven 
them from his yard. He was sorry now. 
His daughter had been sorry for them and 
had wanted to make them happier. A 
new idea came to him. 

“Virginia was the one to whom he told 
his plan. They were great chums and 
had fine times together. He knew that 
she would be interested and would be the 
one to carry out the plans. She was still 
only a girl, but when she grew older would 
be the time to go back to the old home and 
make it into a happy playground for the 
children who had no place but the streets. 

“It was a happy plan, and one that 


THE LOST PRINCESS 


83 


brought much happiness to both the king 
and Virginia. 

“Now Virginia is a grown-up young 
lady and the time has come for her to do as 
she and her grandfather had planned. He 
made her promise that she would go back 
to the old home and turn it from a gloomy, 
shut-up pile of stone and wood into the 
dwelling-place of happiness. 

“And I promised that I would,” con¬ 
cluded the Princess looking about the cir¬ 
cle of absorbed faces with a gentle smile. 

The children drew a long breath. 

“Is it really a true story?” asked Myr¬ 
tle. “Is there really a little lost girl?” 

The Princess nodded. 

“Little Lost Princess Anne,” murmured 
Betty. “How I should like to find her!” 

“There is a clue!” cried Spud eagerly. 
“There is that necklace. You have a 
piece of it and the lost, I mean, the second 
princess has a piece of it, too. In a detec- 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


84 

tive story I read once, two long-lost broth¬ 
ers found each other because each had 
a part of an old watch-chain that belonged 
to their father. You could write just as 
good a story about the Lost Princess.” 

“We aren’t writing stories,” put in 
Myrtle, “we are living them.” 

“It isn’t a finished story, though,” sighed 
Betty. “It’s just like a magazine story. 
Just as you get to the most interesting 
parts and can hardly wait to see what 
comes next, it says, ‘Continued in the Sep¬ 
tember number.’ ” 

“I wish we could finish it up the way we 
liked,” remarked Jeanette. 

“It would be Christmas,” went on Betty, 
“and there would be snow all over the 
ground. The Princess would be decorat¬ 
ing a beautiful tree for the little children. 
The window would have no curtains, so 
people going by could look in and see how 
cheerful and pretty it was inside. Little 
Princess Anne would be passing by in the 


THE LOST PRINCESS 


85 


storm outside. She might have been go¬ 
ing on an errand for the horrid old woman 
that she lived with, or better yet, she might 
be going for something for her poor sick 
mother. 

“When she reached the palace, she 
would look in and wish that she had a nice 
home and money and things. Perhaps 
she would creep up to the window to look 
in and the Princess would see her little 
white face and bring her in.” 

“Yes,” interrupted Myrtle, “and Anne 
would be wearing the pendant, because 
that had been the only thing in the house 
that was nice, so her mother had given it 
to her for a Christmas present that very 
morning. Go on and finish the story, 
Betty.” 

“Well,” went on Betty willingly 
enough, “the Princess would recognize 
the pendant at once. She would take 
Anne into her arms and together they 
would go and get the second princess. 


86 THE BROWN CASTLE 

After that they’d live happily ever after 
and go on making this place a happy one 
for all the children.” 

The Princess smiled down at Betty. 

“It is a pity we can’t finish our life 
stories as happily and as prettily as you 
have finished the story of the Princess 
Anne,” she said softly. 


CHAPTER SIX 


MARJORIE 


O F course the parents were vastly 
interested in the new develop¬ 
ments at the once closed Castle. 
At first some were rather suspicious of the 
Princess. They wanted no charity or 
condescension. However, as time went 
by and the gifts of the Princess confined 
themselves to entertainment and such food 
as any mother might hand out at the back 
door to a hungry crowd, they began to be 
less suspicious. 

By and by they began to call at the big 
house. Mrs. O’Toole was the first to 
come. Hers was not a social call; the 
main reason of her leaving her Monday’s 
wash was to locate the two most trouble¬ 
some of her flock, Sammy and Jenny. 

87 


88 THE BROWN CASTLE 

Sammy and Jenny O’Toole were gen¬ 
iuses in the way of mischief. What did 
not originate in the fertile brain of one, 
did in the other. They were pretty chil¬ 
dren with an abundant supply of freckles, 
wide grins, and eyes of such innocence 
that it was hard to reconcile them with the 
deeds they did. 

Since they were able to walk, the direc¬ 
tion of their new accomplishment had 
been away from home. After school 
hours, Myrtle, with the able assistance of 
Betty, usually kept track of them, but 
while the girls were busy at school the 
whereabouts of the truants was a cause for 
much concern. 

The twins were only a part of Mrs. 
O’Toole’s responsibility. There were 
dishes to wash and clothes both to make 
and to mend. It was therefore with some 
reluctance that she left her clothes soaking 
that busy Monday morning to look for her 
lively offspring. 


MARJORIE 


89 


Her search was not a long one. The 
joyful shout of Sammy led her to the 
Brown Castle. At the gate she stopped 
to enjoy the pretty tableau. The Princess 
was on her knees spading the earth about 
her rose-bushes. Jenny was on the grass 
beside her cuddling a rag doll that looked 
as if it had seen years of service. Sammy 
was busily picking angle-worms from the 
newly-turned earth and putting them into 
an empty lard-pail. 

Mrs. O’Toole was relieved. She had 
heard glowing accounts of the woman 
from Myrtle, and here was a chance to get 
acquainted with her. The story of the 
little lost princess had touched her warm 
heart, and also her curiosity. Her visit 
would be something to tell the neighbors. 
She wished that she had worn a better dress 
and fixed her hair. 

The Princess looked up and smiled at 
Sammy’s shout of “Ma, just look at all the 
mangle-worms!” 


90 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


That broke the ice, and soon the two 
women were deep in conversation about 
the Castle and what the Princess hoped 
that it might mean to the children. 

“Half the trouble with the children of 
to-day is that they are not kept happily 
busy. Idle hands and brains mean mis¬ 
chief,” said the Princess. 

Mrs. O’Toole nodded assent. “It is a 
good work you are doing and a blessing 
you bring to the mothers of the neighbor¬ 
hood. If there is anything I can do to 
help, let me know. I’ll be proud to help 
you. Heaven help you find the little one 
you have lost.” 

The Princess entered the Castle with a 
pleased look in her eyes. The friendship 
of the mothers would mean a great deal in 
determining the success of her exper¬ 
iment. 

It was destined to be a very busy morn¬ 
ing, for hardly had she seated herself when 
the back-door bell rang. Aunt Sally was 


MARJORIE 


9i 


in the kitchen, so the Princess paid no at¬ 
tention to the fact. 

Aunt Sally was just removing a huge 
pan full of crisp cookies with raisin cen¬ 
ters from the oven when the bell rang. 
Through the open screen door she saw a 
shabby, half-grown boy with a big bundle 
in his arms. He was sniffing at the 
cookie-scented air and Aunt Sally grinned. 
Feeding people was her especial delight, 
and any appreciation of her culinary 
power filled her with unbounded pride. 

She opened the door and invited him in. 
What she had thought was a huge bundle 
turned out to be a very tiny little girl not 
much over two years old. The boy was 
shabby but clean, and the little girl was 
spotless. 

“Please may I park my baby here?” he 
asked, stepping over the worn doorstep. 

Aunt Sally did not understand. The 
popular use of the term “park” was neither 
in her experience nor her vocabulary. 


92 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


“Park? Park,” she repeated. 

“Sure,” replied the boy with a wide 
grin, “leave her here when I go to peddle 
my papers. You run this place for kids, 
don’t you? A kid that lives down the 
block a way said that you did, so thinks I 
to myself, that it would be the very place 
for Marjie.” 

“Haven’t you got any folks to leave her 
with?” replied Aunt Sally. “It seems 
kinder funny to have to leave her with 
strangers.” 

The boy flushed. “Mother’s dead,” he 
replied, “and I’ve been looking after her 
ever since. I used to leave her with a lady 
that lived in the block but she has moved. 
I paid her a dollar and a quarter a week 
and I’d give more than that to get her in 
here.” 

Aunt Sally hesitated. Of course the 
house was always open to children, but 
they were children old enough to take care 
of themselves, and with so young a child 


MARJORIE 


93 


as Marjorie, it would be a tremendous re¬ 
sponsibility. However, the place was be¬ 
ing run to fill the needs of children, and it 
would be a shame to turn away any child. 
Aunt Sally was very glad that she did not 
have the responsibility of deciding. She 
turned toward the door. 

“Yo’ jes’ wait till I go and speak to my 
Miss Virginia,” she said, “ ’cause she’ll 
know jes’ what to do.” 

While she was out of the room, the boy’s 
quick eyes noticed several things which 
pleased him. There were some cookie- 
cutters of shining tin in various shapes 
pleasing to little folk. They reminded 
him of the cookies that his mother had 
made for him when he was a little boy. 

Sammy and Jenny had followed the 
Princess to the house, and lured by the 
spicy odor of newly-baked cookies had 
made their way to the kitchen. Now they 
were seated on the doorstep. Jenny still 
held the doll in one hand. In the other 


94 THE BROWN CASTLE 

she had a cookie rabbit. She had already 
nibbled off one of his ears and had com¬ 
menced on the other one. Sammy was 
not so particular. He had plunged into 
the middle of his elephant and was 
smeared with cookie crumbs up to his ears. 

In a short time Aunt Sally returned fol¬ 
lowed by the very prettiest young lady 
that Dick had ever seen. Instinctively his 
hand went up to his tattered hat, although 
it had not occurred to him to remove it 
when he had entered the house. More 
than ever he desired to get Marjorie into 
this paradise of children presided over by 
this golden lady. 

She questioned him gently. 

“Mother’s dead,” he told her, “she died 
before Marjie was a year old. I promised 
her I would always take care of Marjie. 
It isn’t so hard to earn money to pay for 
her, for I’m sixteen even if I do seem so 
small, but it’s hard to find anybody to take 


MARJORIE 


95 


care of her. One of the fellers down the 
street a way told me about you, so I 
brought her.” 

“Who took care of her before?” asked 
the Princess. 

“Old Mrs. Smith who lives in our block. 
I used to pay her every week and buy milk 
extra. She’s moved away now. I s’pose 
I could take her to a Day Nursery only it 
is ’way over at the other side of the city, and 
I am afraid they might think that I was too 
young to keep her. 

“I am willing to pay even more to you 
for the sake of the green grass and—er— 
cookies,” he went on. “It ain’t healthy 
for babies to stay shut up all the time in 
houses. It kinder fades them out.” 

The Princess liked Dick. She liked 
his clear gray eyes that never wavered as 
they met her own. She liked the con¬ 
siderate way that he held his little sister, 
and his business-like manner. It was re- 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


96 

freshing to meet with such pluck in one 
so young. She determined to do all in her 
power to help him. 

“We will try it a week,” she said, “by 
that time we shall know whether it is prac¬ 
tical or not. I would like to make one 
suggestion. You may pay me whatever 
you consider right, but I would like to use 
that money for her clothing. Some of my 
little girl friends want to learn how to 
sew, and I am sure that they would much 
rather dress a real live baby than mere 
dolls.” 

Dick’s eyes beamed approval. Clothes 
had been the one difficulty in his task of 
caring for Marjorie. The task of buying 
the various little garments had always 
been a source of embarrassment to him. 
The joy of getting Marjorie cared for and 
clothed made it seem as though a heavy 
load had been rolled from his shoulders. 

“What time will you call for Marjorie?” 
asked the Princess. 


MARJORIE 


97 


Dick hesitated. He did not want to ap¬ 
pear grasping, yet his very best chances 
for selling papers came after six o’clock 
when the working men were on their way 
home. 

The Princess noticed his hesitation and 
guessed at its cause. 

“There is no real hurry,” she told him, 
“for I am banking upon Betty and Myrtle 
to help take care of her after school. 
Playing house is one of their favorite 
games, and Marjorie will be a pleasant ad¬ 
dition to their resources.” 

Dick went off with a much lighter heart 
than he had carried since the kindly Mrs. 
Smith had left town. In his mind was a 
new ideal, and he silently resolved that the 
kind young lady should never regret her 
gracious act if he could help it. He 
wished that he might do something to 
show his gratitude. 

Meanwhile the Princess was inspecting 
her new treasure. The treasure looked 


98 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


with grave blue eyes out of a tangle of yel¬ 
low curls. She was a pretty baby thing 
and looked as though she were good, as 
well. 

Aunt Sally held out her arms, but the 
child shrank back against the Princess’s 
shoulder. However, by bribery in the 
shape of a marvelous crisp cookie pig, the 
wily Aunt Sally Won a smile from her lips. 
Both women continued their observation 
of this new addition to the Child Garden, 
as the Princess sometimes called the 
Brown Castle. 

Yes, Marjorie was pretty, although the 
pretty curls had been unevenly cut with a 
pair of dull scissors and her feminine pet¬ 
ticoats were conspicuous by their absence. 
Dick was a boy and had dressed his sister 
according to a boy’s ideas. Marjorie 
wore a pair of tiny blue overalls neatly 
turned up at the cuff. Over this was 
pulled a boy’s slip-on sweater, while on 


MARJORIE 


99 


the cropped head was a cap distinctly boy¬ 
ish in outline. 

After another cookie all around, the 
children returned to the yard, and for the 
first time in all her life Marjorie crept and 
toddled over the green grass. It was a 
wonderful morning for her. She pulled 
at the golden dandelions with little gur¬ 
gles of joy and murmured, “Pitty, pitty,” 
over and over again. Aunt Sally, at the 
window keeping track of her, smiled to see 
her pleasure. 

Later in the morning she was brought 
into the house gloriously dirty and bliss¬ 
fully happy. A liberal application of 
soap and water improved her looks im¬ 
mensely, after which orange-juice and 
oatmeal disappeared in short order. 
Again made sweet and clean, she was 
popped into the bed for the nap that she 
was perfectly ready for. 

While she was sleeping, the Princess 


I ) 
) > ) 


IOO 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


went up into the garret to rummage. 
From the darkest corner she drew out a 
small white rocking-chair and a high- 
chair which both the first princess and 
the second princess had used in the days 
of their babyhood. These she dusted and 
brought to the head of the stairs. 

Farther search revealed an old chest 
packed with baby things of other days. 
From it she drew forth little old-fashioned 
baby dresses that had been worn long 
ago by her own mother. Tenderly she 
smoothed out the wrinkles and shook them 
out. They were quaint little dresses with 
queer puffed sleeves and odd patterns. 
However, they would do until something 
better could be made. 

That afternoon little Marjorie had a 
long nap on the Princess’s bed. Clasped 
in her arms was “Mahee Murhee” (Mag¬ 
gie Murphy) the rag doll that had 
done service when the Princess her¬ 
self had been a little girl, and even 


MARJORIE 


IOI 


before that when it had belonged to the 
first princess. 

It was late when she awoke. The Prin¬ 
cess had barely time to get her dressed be¬ 
fore school was out and it was time for the 
children. What would they think about 
the new addition to the Brown Castle’s 
charms? The Princess smiled in antic¬ 
ipation. 

What they did think was expressed by 
exclamations of delight. It was wonder¬ 
ful to have a real baby to play house with. 
Sammy and Jenny were all very well but 
they did not go around among four little 
girls. Marjorie fortunately was a sweet- 
tempered baby, who delighted in being 
wheeled in the old baby-carriage found in 
the barn, and in being dressed up and 
fussed over. 


CHAPTER SEVEN 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O’TOOLE 


W ITH the exception of Reddy 
O’Toole, the whole neighbor¬ 
hood of children had found a 
new interest. With him the whole world 
seemed plunged in gloom. At first, fiery 
anger that matched the brilliancy of the 
color of his hair was in his heart, not only 
for the Princess but for the gang and the 
girls that had betrayed his plans. Then 
came loneliness. 

At a single call from one of the boys of 
his old gang he would have been back with 
them. They, however, angry at his de¬ 
sertion, left him entirely to his own re¬ 
sources, and pride kept him from joining 
them unbidden. 


102 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O’TOOLE 103 

He moped about the house in a manner 
that nearly drove his mother distracted. 
He teased the little O’Tooles to tears and 
pestered Muff, the cat, until she inflicted a 
long scratch on one of his arms. Finally 
his mother, unable to stand the confusion 
longer, drove him out of the house with a 
command for him to keep out of her sight 
until supper time. Was there ever a boy 
so much abused? Reddy thought not. 

He sat down on the top step with his 
chin cupped in his hand. He was quite 
the unhappiest boy in town. The other 
boys were playing ball in back of the Cas¬ 
tle. He could hear them shouting in the 
distance and he drew his cap low over his 
eyes with a scowl. 

Betty coming down the stairs on her 
way to the Castle paused a moment on the 
top stair. Although in disfavor with 
Reddy for the part she had played in warn¬ 
ing the Princess of his plans, her heart 
went out to him in sympathy. It would 


104 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


be dreadful to lose all one’s friends as he 
seemed to have lost his. 

She was not afraid of him in spite of the 
fact that he knew what she had done, for 
they had always been pretty good friends. 
Ever since he had knocked over the big 
Daniels boy and made him return the 
hair-ribbon that he had pulled from her 
hair, she had liked him and had been grate¬ 
ful. She hated to have him exiled from 
all the good times they were having. 

Betty would have liked to stop and talk 
with him. Perhaps she could persuade 
him to come with her. One look, how¬ 
ever, at his stormy face made her realize 
that her hope was a vain one. 

“Hello, Reddy,” she said, as she came 
down the stairs. 

“Hello, Betty,” he answered rather 
gruffly but that was all. She went down 
the street rather slowly toward the Castle. 

Somehow, after that friendly greeting, 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O’TOOLE 105 

Reddy did not feel quite so bitter. Some 
one at least did not hate him. Five min¬ 
utes before, all his world seemed against 
him, but a smile and a greeting had 
changed all that. He thrust his hands 
deep into his pockets and strolled down 
the street. 

The Princess saw him as he passed the 
Castle and waved a friendly hand, but he 
paid no attention to the gesture. She 
might win the affections of the other boys 
with her smiles and her doughnuts, but 
they were not for him. 

He noticed also the ball game that was 
being played in the yard. The gang were 
playing against the River Street Sluggers 
and Brick was pitching. Reddy, himself, 
was their regular pitcher and had helped 
his side score some brilliant victories. It 
was hard to see Brick in his old place. 
Brick made a better catcher than pitcher, 
anyhow. He went by slowly, for he 


106 THE BROWN CASTLE 

hoped they would see and call to him, but 
they were too interested in their game. 
He passed by unseen. 

About a mile from the Castle in one of 
the older parts of the city was an old 
blacksmith’s shop with a new garage at¬ 
tached to it. It was to this place that 
Reddy made his way. He liked to see the 
red-hot, glowing coals. Sometimes he 
dropped little pieces of iron into the fire 
to see them glow red, then white. The 
blacksmith was a jolly, friendly man, and 
Reddy was fond of him. Sometimes he 
let Reddy do small jobs for him, paying 
him with pennies and occasionally a 
nickel. 

This week there was a new attraction at 
the blacksmith’s shop that filled his boyish 
soul with delight. Old Molly, the Smith’s 
collie dog, had a new litter of puppies. 
Round fuzzy balls of fluff they were, 
nestled snugly up to their mother’s warm 
side. 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O’TOOLE 107 

Old Molly thumped with her tail at 
Reddy’s approach, for he was an old friend 
that she both knew and trusted. With a 
cry of delight he dropped down on his 
knees by her side and one by one lifted the 
puppies up for closer inspection. Three 
of them were like their mother, miniature 
models of what an orthodox collie puppy 
should be, but the fourth was different. 
It was hard to believe that he belonged to 
the same litter. 

He was larger and more lively than the 
other three. In fact it was the only one 
among them that had its eyes open at all. 
Bleared baby eyes they were, not as yet of 
any use to him. About his eyes, present¬ 
ing a comical appearance of spectacles, 
were two dark rings. One ear was jaunt¬ 
ily upright, while the other flapped down¬ 
ward, giving him a piquant expres¬ 
sion. 

The blacksmith shook his head over 
him. 


108 THE BROWN CASTLE 

“I can get a good price for the others,” 
he said. “They are all that collie puppies 
should be. They are chips straight off 
the old block,” he added affectionately 
rubbing Molly between her ears, “but this 
little fellow is all wrong. I am afraid I’ll 
have to drown him or give him away.” 

Reddy looked at the man in amazement. 
Why, the darker puppy was the best in the 
lot, he thought. He would rather own 
him than any one of the others. To 
drown that appealing ball of fuzz! The 
idea was unthinkable. 

The blacksmith’s eyes twinkled. He 
noticed the boy’s preference and thought 
he saw a way to get rid of the puppy as well 
as getting rid of a certain piece of work 
that he was dreading. 

“See here, bub,” he said good-naturedly, 
“I’ll make a business proposition to you. 
What say?” 

Reddy looked at him with eagerness. 
A business proposition sounded pretty 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O'TOOLE 109 

grown-up and dignified to his ears. 

“I’ll give you,” went on the blacksmith 
very impressively, “I’ll give you that pup 
for your very own if you will clear up 
every bit of this scrap iron and put it into 
a pile for me. It’s a pretty stiff piece of 
work, I will warn you now, and it will 
probably take you some time, but if you 
want the little fellow bad enough to work 
for him, he is yours.” 

Vastly overjoyed, Reddy at once pitched 
into work with all the energy he was ca¬ 
pable of. For an hour he stuck to it, and 
although at the end of the hour he had col¬ 
lected quite a pile of rusted iron scraps, 
there was no noticeable improvement of 
the condition of the floor. However, the 
blacksmith relieved him by saying that the 
puppy would not be ready to leave its 
mother for several weeks. 

Every night after school he went to the 
blacksmith’s shop to work. His resent¬ 
ment towards the gang diminished, and his 


IIO 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


interest in their activities also. What was 
their attitude to him when he was going to 
have a companion like that puppy? He 
swelled with pride at the thought of dis¬ 
playing the puppy. He thought that 
when the boys saw the puppy, they would 
be glad to see him, too. 

It was a big day for Reddy when the 
puppy first tumbled out of his box and 
came wabbling to meet him on uncertain, 
sprawling legs. 

The days went by. The pile grew big¬ 
ger and bigger while the iron scraps on 
the floor diminished. The puppy grew, 
too. Reddy was very sure that it recog¬ 
nized him and was glad to see him. Sore, 
bleeding fingers did not mean much to 
him when considered as a price for what 
he was getting. 

Finally the work was all done and done 
to the approval of the blacksmith. It was 
a wonderful moment when the blacksmith 
put the puppy into his arms with a hearty, 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O’TOOLE in 

“Well, son, you have done a hard piece of 
work and have done it well. You have 
certainly earned your pet.” 

It was a red-letter journey back home 
with the puppy snugly rolled up in his 
sweater. 

It was not until he was nearly home that 
he began to wonder what his mother would 
say about the addition to the family. 
There were eight mouths to fill in the 
O’Toole family, and money was not plen¬ 
tiful. Besides this, the O’Tooles lived in 
four rooms on the third floor of a big 
apartment-house. It was therefore with 
some apprehensions that he pushed open 
the door of his home. His only hope was 
that his puppy would prove as irresistible 
to his mother as it had to him. 

His apprehensions were well founded. 
What Mrs. O’Toole said about puppies in 
general and collies in particular, com¬ 
bined with what she had to say about dogs 
living on the third-story-up and his lack of 


112 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


intelligence in bringing one home, would 
have filled a good-sized book. 

Dogs were nuisances. They barked 
during the night; they snapped at babies; 
they chewed things up; and they got hair 
all over parlor furniture. 

Reddy’s retort that they kept away 
thieves and found things that were lost was 
discredited. 

“I guess that your father can tackle any 
thief that breaks into this house without 
the aid of a half-grown pup,” she told him 
sarcastically. “If he can’t, well, then, I’ll 
help him out myself. No, sir, you can 
just take that puppy away, and don’t you 
dare come back till you get rid of him.” 

Reddy winked back the tears savagely. 
His miserable eyes met Myrtle’s sympa¬ 
thetic ones. 

“What can I do with him, Ma?” he 
asked gruffly, trying to hide the quiver in 
his voice. 

“Do with him? Do with him?” she 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O’TOOLE 113 

snapped. “I don’t care what you do with 
him as long as you get rid of him. Take 
him back where you got him from, drown 
him, give him away.” 

It was Myrtle who came to Reddy’s res¬ 
cue temporarily. Sorry for Reddy, and 
past mistress of the art of getting her own 
way, she coaxed her mother to let the pup¬ 
py stay for just one night. The black¬ 
smith shop would be closed for it was get¬ 
ting late. Reddy could take him back in 
the morning as it was Saturday. With 
very poor grace Mrs. O’Toole relented. 
Yes, he could stay that night. 

Reddy wanted the puppy to sleep with 
him, but upon this proposal his mother put 
down her foot. The puppy was to sleep 
in the kitchen. 

Poor puppy! How was he to know 
that he should be on his best behavior? 
He welcomed Muff with enthusiasm. To 
his doggish mind, cats were provided for 
his own especial amusement. Muff had 


H4 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


had other encounters with dogs. She was 
mistress of the situation, and the lessons 
that she gave those who meddled with her 
were very drastic. With his tail between 
his legs, the puppy took refuge under the 
stove. 

It was his first night away from home 
and mother. He was feeling lonesome. 
After the various members of the house¬ 
hold had gone to bed he cried, soft plain¬ 
tive little whines at first, then loud yelps. 

Finally Reddy, unable to stand it any 
longer slipped from bed dragging his pil¬ 
low and blankets with him. Into the 
kitchen he groped. The puppy greeted 
him with noisy manifestations of joy. 
Curled up in a little ball by the stove with 
the puppy in his arms he slept until 
morning. 

Reddy woke early, but the puppy woke 
earlier. It was very unfortunate that he 
should have found Mr. O’Toole’s shoe. 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O'TOOLE 115 

Leather has an agreeable taste and is an 
excellent thing on which to cut baby teeth. 
He shook that shoe and he worried that 
shoe. He pulled out the tongue and 
pierced it with his sharp little teeth. 
Then he turned his attention to jenny’s 
doll. 

That doll was an enemy. He felt it in 
his bones. She was an enemy to be killed. 
He killed her with vigor. His pointed 
little teeth pierced her kid body, and tea¬ 
spoonfuls of sawdust streamed from the 
wounds. One arm snapped off. Hand¬ 
fuls of hair lay on the kitchen floor. 

Then, vastly proud of his deeds of valor, 
he grasped her firmly by the wig and 
trotted over to the sleeping Reddy. That 
dazed individual awoke to find himself 
covered with sawdust. Itchy sawdust 
was running down his neck. There was 
his puppy shaking the remains of Jenny’s 
doll in his face and on the floor beside him 


n6 THE BROWN CASTLE 

was his father’s much-bitten shoe. Reddy 
felt that he was in the midst of a night¬ 
mare. 

At this very moment his father entered 
the room with his alarm-clock in his hand. 
One glance told him the whole story. His 
bare foot shot out and caught the surprised 
puppy at about his middle. What he said 
both to Reddy and the puppy isn’t fit to 
repeat. They were in disgrace. Sen¬ 
tence was deferred until after breakfast. 
Then it came crushingly. Reddy must 
get rid of the puppy. He need not come 
home until it was off his hands. 

The tears that he had crowded back the 
night before welled up into his eyes and 
slipped unheeded down his cheeks. The 
puppy, somehow feeling that his little 
master was in trouble, licked his hand with 
his wee scrap of a pink tongue. Reddy 
squeezed him until he yelped in astonish¬ 
ment. 

He sat down on the outside doorstep 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O'TOOLE 117 

to think things over and plan what was 
best to be done. One thing was certain. 
Reddy would not drown his pet, even 
though that breakfast would be the last he 
ever ate at home. He hated to give the 
puppy away, and did not dare to take him 
back to the blacksmith because he, too, had 
mentioned that he might have to be 
drowned. 

As he sat there, Betty came running 
down the stairs with a milk-bottle in her 
hand. At the sight of Reddy’s burden, she 
dropped down on the steps beside him with 
a little cry of delight. She gathered the 
puppy into her arms and kissed him on the 
soft fur between his eyes. 

With a little girl’s intuition she divined 
the cause of Reddy’s unhappiness and 
grieved for him. She was filled with sym¬ 
pathy and a desire to help. But how? 
Grandmother hated pets of all kinds, and 
Betty herself could see that one room, three 
flights up, would never do for even a well- 


ii8 THE BROWN CASTLE 

behaved dog, to say nothing of a mischiev¬ 
ous puppy. She wrinkled up her fore¬ 
head in her endeavor to think of a good 
plan. Suddenly she laid her hand on his 
sleeve. 

“Oh, Reddy, I know just the thing!” she 
cried, her eyes sparkling with delight. “I 
believe the Princess would take him. She 
used to have a lovely dog that she loved 
’most to pieces. She was telling us about 
him the other day, and I know she misses 
him. You just take him to her.” 

Reddy hung back. His behavior to¬ 
ward the Princess had begun to seem very 
childish and he was ashamed of it, but it 
was very hard to admit it. But then there 
was the dog to consider, and it did seem 
to be the only thing to do. 

“I don’t like to, Betty,” he said frankly. 
“I treated her as mean as dirt, and it does 
seem awfully bold to ask her to do some¬ 
thing for me.” 

Betty nodded understandingly. “I 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O’TOOLE 119 

know just how you feel,” she replied, “but 
I know too that she doesn’t lay up any 
grudge against you, for I heard her tell 
Aunt Sally that she hoped that you’d come 
some time. Besides, think how lovely it 
would be for the puppy to live at the 
Castle.” 

She had touched the right chord. Re¬ 
luctantly he arose. 

“I wish you’d go, too,” he said. 

“Grandmother is waiting for me to get 
her breakfast,” replied Betty. “I’d go with 
you if it wasn’t for that. I’m glad you are 
going, for I hate to have you left out of 
all our good times. Besides, we have all 
missed you.” 

Rather reluctantly and slowly he went 
down the street with the puppy snugly 
held under his arm. It was hard to ad¬ 
mit to the Princess that he had acted badly 
toward her, but something inside told him 
that it was the thing to do. 

Aunt Sally saw him coming, and to the 


120 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


woman who had raised several boys there 
was a droop to his shoulders that told her 
he was in trouble. She hastily sought 
out her mistress. 

“Dat little red-headed boy what won’t 
play in our yard is headed dis way, and he 
sure do look like the world ain’t been 
treatin’ him right. You jes’ run down and 
see what’s de matter wid him.” 

Catching up a broad-brimmed hat and 
pruning-shears, she hurried down to the 
lilac-bush which was nearest to the gate. 
She was busily cutting off the unnecessary 
shoots when he reached the gate. He 
paused and looked at her with puzzled 
eyes, not knowing just how to say what 
he wanted to say. The Princess, seeing 
the tear-smudged face and the puppy, 
knowing as much as she did about the 
small quarters at the boy’s home, guessed 
pretty accurately the state of affairs. 

“That is a very pretty puppy that you 
have there,” she pleasantly remarked, “and 


THE WINNING OF REDDY O'TOOLE 121 

he looks as if he were going to grow into a 
splendid dog.” 

Reddy glowed with pride. “I had to 
work awf’ly hard for him,” he replied. 

She nodded understanding^. “You 
would have to,” she responded. “I want 
a dog for this place, but I haven’t located 
a good one yet. Perhaps I could get one 
where you got yours. I don’t suppose I 
could get yours for love or money?” 

At her question the boy looked up with 
sudden hope in his eyes. “You can have 
him free for nothing,” he cried joyfully, 
although with a little pang at his heart as 
he remembered all the scrap iron he had 
carried, and that wonderful moment when 
the blacksmith had put him into his arms 
for good. 

The Princess smiled very understand¬ 
ing^. “He can still be yours, Reddy, and 
yet live here with me. Every day you can 
come and see him.” 

Then Reddy surprised both himself and 


122 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


the Princess. He dropped the puppy at 
her feet and impulsively threw both arms 
about her. “I am sorry I acted so mean,” 
he whispered. “Gee, you’re a peach, all 
right.” Then, horribly embarrassed, he 
was off like the wind. 

Aunt Sally from her window, where she 
had been an interested spectator, chuckled 
softly. “A wise lady is my Miss Vir¬ 
ginia,” she said. 


CHAPTER EIGHT 


THE PLAYHOUSE 

M AY was nearly over and the li¬ 
lacs were in bloom. The air 
of desertion that had so long 
brooded over the brown house was com¬ 
pletely gone. The whole place gave one 
a feeling of welcome and comfort. Many 
children came and went as they pleased, 
but to the children who had discovered 
the Princess and to the boys of the 
gang, it seemed especially theirs. They 
could hardly wait for the summer vacation 
to come. 

In the side yard was a community gar¬ 
den divided up into a regular checker¬ 
board by string and pegs. Already little 
rows of green things gave promise of 
treasures to follow. Each member of the 


123 




124 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


gang owned a small patch of earth, and 
even some of the little girls had staked out 
claims. 

They were telltales, these small gardens. 
They told much to any one who could 
understand their language. Tubby’s gar¬ 
den was more or less neglected, for Tubby 
was undeniably lazy. Spud and Reddy 
had gone into partnership. They had 
planted potatoes with fond hopes of turn¬ 
ing a pretty penny upon the product of 
their labors. Each had much pride jn his 
patch of well-weeded potatoes. 

Myrtle had wanted to go into partner¬ 
ship with Betty and raise flowers, but Betty 
had refused. 

“I am going to plant pumpkins and 
squash and turnips and things so we won’t 
have to spend so much money this next 
winter,” she explained one afternoon, as 
she sat with Myrtle and the Princess upon 
the piazza. “I’d just love to plant flow¬ 
ers, though,” she added. 


THE PLAYHOUSE 


125 


Myrtle was generous and impulsive. 
She put her arm about her friend. She 
understood the poverty of her friend’s life 
and knew that sometimes there was so little 
food in the house that Betty was hungry. 
Often a part of Mrs. O’Toole’s Saturday’s 
baking found its way to Betty’s house. 

“You can have all of my flowers that you 
want,” she promised, “and we will fill 
every room in the Castle with bunches of 
them.” 

“I wish I could sell some of my vegeta¬ 
bles and get a lot of money for them,” said 
Betty wistfully. 

“What would you do with it?” asked the 
Princess. It seemed strange to her that 
so young a little girl should lay so much 
importance on money. She had never felt 
the pinch of not having enough, and 
Betty’s words made her wonder if the little 
girl were greedy. 

“Oh, there are lots of things that I’d 
get,” replied Betty, “new dresses and coal 


126 THE BROWN CASTLE 

for winter and to cook with, and things for 
Grandma. We sometimes play we have 
a million dollars and tell what we would 
do with it. It is a pleasant game.” 

“Well,” cut in Myrtle, “I know what I 
would do if I should have a million dol¬ 
lars and I’d do it pretty quick, too. You 
can’t imagine how sick and tired I get of 
having Frances, Jenny, and Sammy in the 
same room with me. The beds are put in 
so close that I have no room to keep my 
things at all. Frances is the oldest and 
she’s in high school, so she feels as if she 
ought to have most of the room, and the 
twins are into everything. I’d move into 
a much bigger apartment.” 

“Oh, look,” cried Betty, hastily spring¬ 
ing up from her seat. “Marjorie Jones is 
right in the middle of Reddy’s garden.” 

Away she sped to drag the mischievous 
one away from Reddy’s cherished patch. 
Fortunately it was not damaged badly. 
Marjorie, resenting the interference, 


THE PLAYHOUSE 


127 


howled lustily, and the subject of cramped 
quarters was forgotten for the time being. 

“I am going to get a clothes-line from 
Aunt Sally and tie it around this child and 
hitch her to the tree where Reddy’s puppy 
is tied,” Betty panted, as she approached 
the group on the steps. 

“Children are such a care,” said Myrtle 
so pensively that both the Princess and 
Betty laughed. 

“You ought to know,” said the Princess. 

“I wish we had some at our house,” 
sighed Betty. “I used to tease Mother to 
buy a little sister for me when I was too lit¬ 
tle to know that you couldn’t buy babies 
at the store. Now I pretend that Marjorie 
is my little sister.” 

“You take beautiful care of her,” said 
the Princess, smiling and laying her hand 
on the curly head. “I don’t know what I 
would do without your help.” 

That evening the Princess and Aunt 
Sally discussed the question brought up by 


128 THE BROWN CASTLE 

Myrtle. Having always lived in a large 
house with spacious grounds, it was hard 
to imagine two or three children to one 
room, but the Princess could see how hard 
it must be to live so crowded a life. 

“They ought to have some privacy,” she 
told Aunt Sally. “And that reminds me 
of another question that bothers me,” she 
went on. “We ought to make some pro¬ 
vision for rainy days. Vacation is com¬ 
ing, and of all times when children need to 
be kept busy and happy, vacation is the 
most important. The house is large, but 
we haven’t fixed it up yet, and large as it is, 
there is not room for from ten to fourteen 
children to really enjoy themselves.” 

Aunt Sally wrinkled up her forehead as 
she always did when she was perplexed. 
She was as interested in the success of the 
Brown Castle as was her mistress. She 
also felt a deep responsibility for she had 
promised the crotchety old grandfather 


THE PLAYHOUSE 


129 


that she would take the best possible care 
of her mistress and also do all in her power 
to help her. 

“Dere’s de old stable, Miss Virginia. 
It’s filled up with rubbish and old furni¬ 
ture, but I reckon from de looks of de out¬ 
side that there are two or three rooms 
upstairs and lots of jumpin’-room down¬ 
stairs,” she finally suggested. 

“Aunt Sally, you are a genius,” ex¬ 
claimed the Princess. “I wonder why I 
did not think of that before. Grandfather 
used to say there were several rooms up 
there where the coachman and his family 
used to live.” 

Aunt Sally beamed. She was not sure 
she knew what a genius was, but it sounded 
well, and she knew that her young mistress 
was pleased. 

“You might hire dat Dick to help clean 
it out. He’s got a wise head on him, and 
I bet he could manage dem gang boys and 


130 THE BROWN CASTLE 

get things done in style,” she continued. 

“He is late to-night, fortunately,” re¬ 
plied the Princess, “so we shall be able to 
tell him. He told me this morning that 
somebody had given him work from six 
to eight. It seems wrong that so much 
responsibility should be laid on such 
young shoulders.” 

“Speakin’ bout angels and such-like, 
dere is the bell dis blessed minute,” ex¬ 
claimed Aunt Sally, rising quickly and 
bustling out of the room. 

Dick’s face brightened as he was ush¬ 
ered into the cheery room. The tiny fire 
which had been lighted in the fireplace 
gave forth a pleasant glow. They did not 
really need a fire, for the night was not 
cold, but it surely did add to the comfort 
and homelike atmosphere of the room. 
The furniture was old and seemed to “be¬ 
long,” as Dick thought to himself. The 
Princess was very good to look upon. 
Dick found himself many times during the 


THE PLAYHOUSE 


131 

day looking forward to going for Mar¬ 
jorie. 

That small person was curled up like 
a kitten on the lounge with Mahee 
Murhee in her arms. It was long after 
Sleepy-Man time, and she was asleep. 
Reddy’s puppy was close beside her. It 
lifted its head and growled softly as Dick 
entered, but upon hearing the sound of his 
voice thumped several times with his tail 
and again went to sleep. 

The Princess held out her hand. 

“Did you have a successful day?” she 
asked. 

“Fairly so,” was the response, “this eve¬ 
ning job has brought in quite a bit extra. 
I’m in luck.” 

“That is good. Have you any time for 
another piece of work?” she asked. 

He grinned. “Lead me to it,” was his 
reply. “I just eat up work of all kinds.” 

With Aunt Sally’s help she told him of 
her plans to make a playhouse out of the 


132 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


old stable for the little girls and a playroom 
downstairs. The plan met with his ap¬ 
proval and enthusiasm. 

“To-morrow’s Saturday and the boys 
are not going to school. That Reddy is a 
smart one and we’re pretty good friends. 
I know some of the other fellows in his 
gang and they are good workers, too. We 
ought to make things hum, the whole 
of us.” 

“Then you will be able to help us out?” 
questioned the Princess. 

“You bet,” was the hearty response. 

“But what about your papers?” queried 
Aunt Sally. “You won’t lose de folks 
dat buys ’em, I hope?” 

“Things are working out pretty well for 
this week,” replied the boy. “To-day I ran 
across an old chum of mine who is down 
on his luck. His brother used to have this 
route that I have now, so he knows all 
about it. He can deliver his papers and 
then peddle for me afterwards. I’ll give 


THE PLAYHOUSE 


133 


him enough to make it worth his time.” 

“That is good,” answered the Princess. 
“We’ll expect you to stay with us then, to¬ 
morrow.” 

The next morning he arrived very 
promptly at eight o’clock and the gang 
soon made their appearance. The new 
plan met with their unanimous approval, 
and under Dick’s capable management set 
to work with a will. 

The lower part of the old stable was 
piled full of things that had come to the 
end of their period of usefulness. Two 
very old-fashioned vehicles were pulled 
out into the yard to wait for the junk-man. 
One was an upholstered sleigh; the other 
was a one-seated buggy. 

In dislodging the seat of the sleigh 
Reddy discovered a small hole. Farther 
investigation disclosed a soft, cotton-lined 
nest with baby mice in it. The mice were 
tiny and pink. They were so young that 
their eyes had not yet opened. At 


134 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


Reddy’s excited call, the other children 
hurried to see his discovery, much to the 
distress of mother mouse, scurrying across 
the floor in great perturbation. 

Other surprising things came to light. 
There was any quantity of discarded furni¬ 
ture, furniture considered too old for use 
twenty-five years before. Some of it the 
Princess considered valuable. That was 
to be sent South. The rest she decided to 
sell. 

“I think we will devote the proceeds to 
fitting up the lower part of the building 
for a small gymnasium,” said the Princess. 
“We will put up a swing or two, and a 
small trapeze. Some rings could be put 
up to swing upon, and maybe we shall have 
room enough for parallel bars.” 

The boys gave a whoop of delight at this 
pleasing prospect and pitched into work 
harder than before, as if they were deter¬ 
mined to earn their gymnasium as quickly 
as possible. 


THE PLAYHOUSE 


135 


While the boys were struggling with 
heavy furniture and rubbish downstairs, 
the girls were having a tussle upstairs 
with heavy coats of dust and cob-webs. 
There were three rooms above the stable 
which had been used by the coachman. 
They were completely furnished with 
pretty but cheap furniture. 

Perhaps you can imagine the bliss of 
little girls living in crowded tenements at 
having three whole rooms furnished for 
their own use. Many of them lived with 
father, mother, brothers, and sisters in 
rooms neither so big nor pleasant. 

The gable windows were a particular 
delight, for not only were they small and 
set into the wall in a pleasing fashion, but 
they were diamond-paned and let in a flood 
of sunlight. 

“I am going to bring over my geranium 
plant that I got at Sunday school and keep 
it in this window,” announced Betty in 
great satisfaction, “It never gets a bit of 


136 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


sun at home and it is getting all yellow and 
straggly.” 

“Come on, let’s start to clean,” said 
Myrtle energetically. “You take the rugs 
out and shake them and I will scrub the 
floor.” 

“Can you?” asked Grace rather doubt¬ 
fully. 

“I guess so,” replied the undaunted 
Myrtle. “I’ve helped do it at home lots of 
times.” 

It was hard work to carry the pails of 
water up the narrow stairs, but Myrtle fi¬ 
nally accomplished it. Scrubbing a floor 
streaked with the dirt of years was no light 
task for the slender arms, but Myrtle’s 
courage and persistence were unlimited. 

In the middle of the job Tubby came up 
the stairs on a tour of investigation. Pos¬ 
sibly he was tired of helping the boys. At 
all events he was in a tormenting frame of 
mind. 

After poking about, much to the dis- 


THE PLAYHOUSE 


137 


tress of the little girls, he began to jeer 
at Myrtle’s attempts at floor-washing. 
Now Myrtle possessed a temper. It 
matched the color of her brother’s hair. 
Some people said that it should have been 
Myrtle who had the red hair. 

The tormenting Tubby did not see the 
danger signals. Had he done so, it is 
most probable that he would have stopped 
his teasing, for he had had sad experiences 
with Myrtle’s temper before. In pulling 
off Betty’s ribbon he went a step too far. 

Myrtle attacked him with the business 
end of the mop. Although he backed 
hastily away, the dripping, dirty thing 
came in contact with his face. Blinded 
with dirty water, he stepped forward to 
avenge his wrong. It was unfortunate 
that he stepped heavily on a bar of very- 
slippery soap. He slipped and fell, land¬ 
ing in a sitting position directly in the big 
tub of soapy, dirty water. 

A howl from Tubby and a shriek of 


138 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


laughter from the girls brought the rest 
of the boys upstairs on the run. One look 
at the victim firmly wedged in the tub sur¬ 
rounded with the puddle of dirty water set 
them all off, and peal after peal of laughter 
rang out. Indeed, so overwhelming was 
the general mirth that it was some time be¬ 
fore the unfortunate Tubby could be res¬ 
cued from his predicament. 

“Tubby, Tubby, in a tubby!” shouted 
one boy. 

“Tubby, Tubby, Wash-Tubby!” cried 
Reddy. 

Poor abused Tubby went home to 
change his dripping clothes. I grieve to 
say that he told his indignant mother that 
Myrtle O’Toole had pushed him into a tub 
of water. 

At any rate, it was a long time before he 
annoyed the little girls again, and to his 
great disgust the name “Wash-Tub” set¬ 
tled on him, apparently for life. 


CHAPTER NINE 


THE GATE-LEG TABLE 

T HE junk-man called that after¬ 
noon and carted away the sleigh, 
the carriage, and the cheapest of 
the old furniture. Some of it was re¬ 
moved to the garret of the Castle and some 
of it was appropriated by the little girls 
farther to embellish their new tenement. 
An old cradle was hailed with delight. 

“There now, Marjorie Jones, you have 
got to have a nap,” cried Betty, pouncing 
upon that small person who was placidly 
sucking her thumb. 

Marjorie had other notions. 

“No nap,” she remarked promptly roll¬ 
ing out of the cradle on the opposite side. 

Betty caught her up and bundled her 
over to the big bed for a frolic, much to 


139 


140 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


Marjorie’s joy. After a few minutes of 
play she returned to her scrubbing. 

“Funny, isn’t it?” said Myrtle thought¬ 
fully. “Here we are scrubbing floors and 
polishing windows with all our might and 
main and we’re having lots of fun, and if 
we were at home and had to do it, we would 
think we were awfully abused.” 

The floors did show improvement in 
spite of sundry streaks and smudges, but it 
was a tired group of little girls that finally 
settled down upon the Princess’s front 
piazza. A bedraggled set of little girls, 
too, although each had been protected by 
apron and dust-cap. Aunt Sally was one 
broad grin as she watched them come up 
the path. 

“Guess dat old coach-house mus’ be 
pretty clean, jedgin’ from the looks of dem 
children. Looks like dey used demselves 
for mops and dusters.” 

She chuckled as she departed kitchen- 
ward in quest of soap, a wash-basin, and 


THE GATE-LEG TABLE 


141 

towels. These she laid out in readiness 
for the arrival of those in need of them. 

After as much dirt was removed as was 
possible, the girls flocked back to the 
piazza to give their Princess an account of 
their activities. 

The boys had also stopped work and 
were engaged in baseball in the back yard. 
Even Dick, busy man as he usually was, 
had laid aside his coat and had pitched into 
the game with all the vigor and enjoyment 
he was capable of. 

It was a peaceful time. Little Marjorie 
had curled up with a sleepy sound of con¬ 
tentment in Betty’s arms, plainly ready for 
the nap that she had refused half an hour 
before. Betty herself was lying in the 
hammock, her curly head close to Mar¬ 
jorie’s. The Princess sat in a low rocker 
sewing, with Myrtle at her feet, while 
Doris fondled the cat. 

It made a very pretty picture, thought 
the lonely young doctor, whose office was 


142 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


across the way, and he found himself wish¬ 
ing that he were there, too. 

“Please tell us a story, Princess,” begged 
Myrtle. “It is such a sleepy afternoon 
that I feel just like stories, somehow.” 

“Oh, yes,” cried Doris, spilling Babette 
out of her lap and hastening to join Myrtle 
in her pleading. 

“Tell a true story,” put in Betty from the 
hammock. “You know that you prom¬ 
ised to tell us the story of the gate-leg table 
the last time we were playing house un¬ 
der it.” 

The Princess smiled and the children 
waited. They knew that if they were only 
patient enough, a story would be forth¬ 
coming, and soon the Princess began: 

“There was a great deal of excitement 
in Great-great-grandmother Anne’s house 
one spring a great many years ago, for 
Great-grandmother Anne was getting 
married that June, and there was much to 
be done. 


THE GATE-LEG TABLE 143 

“All during the spring they had been 
very busy with spinning-wheel, loom, nee¬ 
dle, and thread. 

“In those days people did not go to the 
store when they wished to buy cloth for 
their dresses as they do in these times. 
Nearly all the cloth had to be woven on big 
looms from wool or flax threads, which had 
been spun and twisted on the spinning- 
wheel. 

“It is true that Anne’s wedding gown 
was much finer than anything she could 
have made herself. Had not it been 
brought to her from England, where the 
skilled hands of the nuns in the convent 
had wrought each bud and flower of the 
intricate design? She sometimes won¬ 
dered about them as she tenderly smoothed 
the rare stuff. Were they happy, those 
sheltered nuns, to make such a beautiful 
wedding gown when they themselves could 
never realize the joys of married life? 

“Most of her equipment was the work 


144 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


of her own hands. She was very proud 
of her finely woven linen towels and table¬ 
cloths. Her blue-and-white woven bed¬ 
spread filled her soul with delight. No 
other bride in all her memory had a finer 
or more complete outfit. None other had 
a chest more beautiful or better filled than 
her own. No other had a better-looking 
or nobler bridegroom than Albert Claflin. 

“The wedding was a milestone in the 
history of the village It was a perfect day. 
People were most kind, and she was marry¬ 
ing the best man in all the whole wide 
world. 

“Time went on. Life in the new home 
was strenuous with the coming of Sarah, 
Isobel, Maria and Sophia, Rebecca and 
Emily, and finally the two little boys, 
Evarts and Fred. People had large fam¬ 
ilies in those days, and Anne was very 
busy. 

“She made a splendid farmer’s wife, 


THE GATE-LEG TABLE 


145 


also. Besides cooking and sewing for her 
big family, she made quantities of butter 
and cheese from the milk that was pro¬ 
duced so abundantly. 

“Now pantry space was scarce at the 
Claflin house and the big pans of milk took 
up room. One afternoon old Mrs. Pond 
came to call and commented upon the 
small quarters. 

“ ‘You need an extra table, Anne,’ she 
said, ‘and I think I can help you out. 
Down in our cellar is a very old table that 
has been discarded for years as too old to 
use. It is pretty firm, though, and being a 
gate-leg, folds up into small space. I’ll 
tell Peleg to bring it over.’ 

“That is how the gate-leg table came to 
Grandmother Anne. 

“Little Rebecca loved the old table. 
Under its sheltering leaves she played with 
her dolls. Queer dolls they were, unlike 
any you ever saw or probably heard about, 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


146 

for they were made of corn-cobs with rude 
faces drawn upon them, but Rebecca loved 
them dearly. 

“The doll that she loved best of all, how¬ 
ever, was not a corn-cob one. It was made 
of china, with startling black shiny hair 
and pretty pink cheeks. Not many of the 
little girls in the neighborhood could boast 
of a real doll, and little Rebecca was very 
proud of it. When she was not playing 
with it, it was kept in a small mahogany 
box that had been made especially for her 
the last time that the furniture-man had 
called at the house. 

“But time does not stand still. Little 
Rebecca grew up, and there was another 
wedding at the Claflin house. Great 
preparations were made. The furniture- 
man came for a fortnight to make massive 
wedding furniture. While he was at the 
house he saw the gate-leg table and knew 
what splendid workmanship it repre¬ 
sented. 


THE GATE-LEG TABLE 


147 


“At his suggeston it was scraped. Sev¬ 
eral little nails which had been pounded 
into its surface were removed and it was 
painted. Anne, knowing how fond her 
daughter was of it, gave it to her for a wed¬ 
ding present. It really looked like a new 
table, and of all Rebecca’s wedding posses¬ 
sions none delighted her half so well as the 
old gate-leg table. 

“The newly-married couple came to this 
house to live, and as time went on, other 
little girls played with their dolls under its 
leaves. The second princess and my 
mother loved it, too. At Grandmother 
Rebecca’s death the table became the prop¬ 
erty of my mother, and of course went 
South with her, but it never seemed to be¬ 
long there. When it was decided that I 
should come back to the old house, the 
table was to come with me. And now it 
stands just where it used to in Rebecca’s 
time when my mother used to play dolls 
with the second princess.” 


148 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


The children went in to look at the table 
with new respect. 

“How old is it?” whispered Betty. 

“No one knows how old,” replied the 
Princess. “It was ready for kindling- 
wood away back in Great-grandmother 
Anne’s day. About a year ago a collector 
of antiques who loved and bought the 
things that used to belong to the people in 
the far ago times offered Mother two hun¬ 
dred dollars for it.” 

“Mercy!” cried Myrtle. “All that 
money for an old table? Why, you could 
buy a lot of new tables for that much.” 

“It would pay weeks and weeks of rent,” 
said Betty, a trifle wistfully. 

“What ever became of the doll?” she 
went on. “I mean Grandmother Re¬ 
becca’s doll.” 

A shadow passed over the bright face of 
the Princess. 

“It was always kept in a little mahogany 


THE GATE-LEG TABLE 149 

box,” she replied. “Mother said that 
Grandmother Rebecca gave it to the sec¬ 
ond princess, but of course nobody knows 
now what became of it.” 


CHAPTER TEN 


THE SHADOW 


B ETTY gave her skirt a little twitch 
and looked at Myrtle with hope¬ 
less eyes. 

“It looks perfectly awful,” she said, “and 
I have to stand with two other girls right 
before the whole school and recite.” 

Myrtle put her head to one side and con¬ 
sidered. Betty’s dress had been pink once 
upon a time, but now had faded out nearly 
white. Then, too, Betty had been grow¬ 
ing and the dress had not. It was her best 
one, and she loved it because it always 
made her think of the last really happy 
birthday when she had worn it first. 
Special occasions were few and far be¬ 
tween, and she had not worn it for a long 


THE SHADOW 


151 

time. It was above her knees, and tight at 
the waist. 

“You’ll have to let it down before the 
exhibition,” said Myrtle. “It’ll have a 
band of pink at the bottom, but it is better 
than having it up to your neck. Won’t 
your grandmother get you a new one?” 

Betty shook her head mournfully. 

“She has been so sick that we had to 
have the doctor, and you have no idea how 
much money doctors charge for the littlest 
bottles of medicine,” she replied. “She 
can’t go out and work any more, and is all 
the time mumbling about orphan asylums 
and old ladies’ homes. I just hate the 
name of orphan asylum.” 

“Have you talked about it with the 
Princess?” asked Myrtle, hope springing 
into her eyes. “I’ll bet a cookie that she 
would get you a new dress if she knew how 
much you needed it.” 

“No, I haven’t, and I am not going to, 
either,” responded Betty. “She is doing 


152 THE BROWN CASTLE 

nice things for us all the time, and I’d be 
ashamed.” 

The dress was small and the wide pink 
band about the hem made it very notice¬ 
able. Betty was much ashamed to have to 
wear it at closing exercises, but she made 
up her mind that she would not let it spoil 
her whole day. 

The last day of school was a very beau¬ 
tiful one. It seemed as if it had been made 
especially for exercises and exhibitions. 
The school was decked with flowers from 
the Princess’s garden. There were piles 
of the nicest work laid out, so that the 
mothers could see what had been done. 
The Princess had promised to come. 
Betty, Myrtle, and Doris were going for 
her at half-past one. 

Betty was not feeling very well. In 
fact, for the last two weeks she had not felt 
as much like playing as usual. Her head 
felt rather heavy and it seemed hard work 
to do the usual little tasks about the house. 


THE SHADOW 


153 


Listlessly she brushed out the long yel¬ 
low curls and fastened the ends back out 
of her eyes. It was hot hair, and she 
looked longingly at the scissors lying on 
the table. Only her promise to her grand¬ 
mother kept her from ridding herself of 
that useless mop of hair. 

The little clock on the mantel loudly 
proclaimed that time was flying, so she 
hastily slipped the patched and faded dress 
over her head and with twisting and turn¬ 
ing managed to button it down the back ex¬ 
cept for the two most difficult buttons, 
which she reserved for Myrtle. 

Then she bathed Granny’s face with a 
towel, which she left lying near at hand. 
Never had duty or pleasure seemed so 
hard. 

There was an impatient knock at the 
door, and Myrtle entered hastily. In her 
hand were two pink roses. 

“Look!” she cried exultantly. “I had 
to go to the store for my mother and the 


154 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


Princess called to me as I was going by. 
She gave me these. There is one for you 
and one for me.” 

With a little cry of pleasure Betty 
caught up the lovely thing. 

“They are the first ones out,” she whis¬ 
pered, “and she sent them to us.” 

Myrtle looked at her friend with keen 
eyes. She noticed the high color in 
Betty’s face and her quick nervous mo¬ 
tions. 

“You don’t feel awfully good, do you?” 
she said sympathetically; then not waiting 
for her friend to answer she went on, 
“You can go and lie down in the Princess’s 
hammock when the exercises are over.” 

The exhibition was a huge success. 
The teacher was pleased; the parents were 
pleased; the children were pleased. The 
girls introduced the Princess to the 
teacher. It was pleasing to see that the 
teacher liked the Princess and the Princess 
liked the teacher. 


THE SHADOW 


155 


No one noticed Betty’s flushed face and 
over-brilliant eyes. Had any one done 
so, it would probably have been thought 
that excitement caused it. 

Afterward the children gathered on the 
Princess’s piazza to talk it all over. Betty 
crawled into the hammock. How much 
every one had to say! How noisy and 
confused it was! Betty pressed her thin 
little hands up to her forehead. The 
grasshoppers were singing in the tall . 
grass. The noise on the porch seemed to 
get fainter and fainter and then to die 
away in the distance. Betty was asleep, 
with her head pillowed on the small bal¬ 
sam pillow embroidered by the second 
princess years before. 

The others did not notice her absence 
for a long time. They were laying won¬ 
derful plans for the summer that was 
finally here. The girls were looking for¬ 
ward to moving their things into the 
coach-house. Doris and Jeanette were to 


156 THE BROWN CASTLE 

have half of the bedroom for their things, 
and Betty was to share the other half with 
Myrtle. The dining-room and kitchen 
were to be shared by all. 

Betty was forgotten until Myrtle re¬ 
membered a question she wanted to ask. 
Recalling Betty’s tired, sick appearance, 
she slipped to the hammock and peeped 
over the high side. 

“She is sound asleep,” she whispered re¬ 
turning on tiptoe. 

“Poor little girl,” said the Princess. 
“All this excitement has tired her out. 
We will let her sleep until supper time.” 

Soon the other little girls went home to 
change their best dresses for something 
more suitable for playing, but still Betty 
slept. Half-past four, five o’clock, half¬ 
past five! Still Betty slept. 

Several times the Princess came to peep 
at her, but judging that sleep would do her 
most good, did not disturb her. At six 
o’clock Aunt Sally came to look. 


THE SHADOW 


157 


“Pretty lamb,” she said stroking the 
child’s forehead. “Done tired out.” 

As her hand came into contact with the 
child’s hot head, she gave a start of sur¬ 
prise and quickly called her mistress. 

“Dat chile am sick, Miss Virginia,” she 
said. “She’s jest burnin’ up wid fever. 
You’d better get a doctor for her and let 
her folks know.” 

The Princess knew enough of Betty’s 
home life to realize how frail the little 
grandmother was and how unfit she was to 
care for herself, to say nothing about a 
sick child. She promptly made up her 
mind to take care of the sick Betty herself, 
and at once dispatched Aunt Sally for the 
doctor. 

The nearest doctor was the young man 
across the street, and although Aunt Sally 
had some doubts whether so young a man 
really knew much about medicines, she 
went after him at the order of her mistress. 

Fortunately he was at home at the time, 


158 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


and it was not many minutes before he was 
examining poor Betty. His face was 
quite grave as he turned to the Princess. 

“She is a sick child,” he said, “it is most 
unfortunate, for the grandmother is abso¬ 
lutely unfit to care for her. I am also tak¬ 
ing care of her and it is doubtful whether 
she lives much longer. I suppose the best 
thing to do will be take the little girl to the 
hospital.” 

At his words, Betty cried out, “I don’t 
want to go away! Oh, Princess, don’t let 
him take me away!” 

The Princess gathered her into her arms 
and made haste to soothe her. 

“It’s all right, Betty-girl,” she said ten¬ 
derly. “We are going to keep you right 
here until you are all well again.” 

Leaving Aunt Sally to take care of Betty, 
the Princess hastened to tell her grand¬ 
mother. 

It is very hard to know just what is go¬ 
ing to happen. Sometimes when things 


THE SHADOW 


159 


seem to be going on smoothly and we think 
everything will continue to go that way, 
something happens and the whole outlook 
is changed. That morning everything 
was much as usual. Grandmother was a 
little feebler and had been too tired to get 
up, but Betty was used to that. Betty’s 
head was heavy and it was very hot, but 
that was to be expected. Now everything 
was changed. Betty was sick. 

When the Princess reached Betty’s 
house, she was met by Mrs. O’Toole. 
There was relief in her eyes when she saw 
the Princess. 

“I was just going over to your house to 
see if Betty was there. Her grandmother 
is needing her,” she said, “and I wanted to 
tell you that she is mighty queer this after¬ 
noon. When my Myrtle went in there to 
see if Betty had come back from your 
house, the old lady didn’t know her from 
Betty.” 

In a few words the Princess told of 


160 THE BROWN CASTLE 

Betty’s illness, and together they went in 
to look at Betty’s grandmother. A few 
minutes’ visit convinced the Princess that 
the doctor was needed there also, and that 
evening the hospital ambulance stopped 
for the old lady. 

That night Betty was feverish and 
talked wildly. She called for her mother 
and muttered broken sentences about the 
land and the Castle of Heart’s Delight. 
She recognized no one, although she was 
quietest when the Princess’s arms were 
about her. The doctor proclaimed her a 
very sick child. 

For days a shadow hung over the Castle. 
The gay shouting of the children was 
hushed. Myrtle hung wistfully about, as¬ 
suming the entire charge of little Mar¬ 
jorie. 

“It seems as if I was doing it for Betty,” 
she said as she sat one evening beside the 
Princess for just a moment of conference. 

A long, weary time to wait it was until 


THE SHADOW 161 

one evening the doctor came away with a 
smile on his lips. 

“I think we shall pull the little girl 
through,” he had just told the Princess, 
and her answering look had been worth 
everything to him. 


CHAPTER ELEVEN 

THE CASTLE OF HEART’S DELIGHT 

B ETTY herself never knew much 
of what happened during her 
sickness. The real things of life 
seem to have dropped away from her, 
leaving confused dreams in their place. 

The first time that she opened her eyes 
and knew where she was, it was night, for 
dark shadows were in the corners where 
the little night-lamp failed to cast its rays. 
The lamp itself made a small island of 
light in a sea of darkness. In its light 
where its mellow beams fell on her golden 
head sat the Princess, her own Princess 
Virginia, who somehow seemed mixed up 
in the dreams of the past days as the only 
spot of light in a black world of pain and 
unhappiness. 


162 


THE CASTLE OF HEART’S DELIGHT 163 

Then again her heavy eyelids closed and 
she was off in the world of dreams. In 
her dream she was seated by a rough little 
table in a shabby, tumble-down house in 
the wood. She was unhappy, for she was 
alone and it was getting dark. The wood 
outside seemed full of shadows which 
made her afraid. 

Far away she heard a dog bark. Per¬ 
haps it was Reddy’s dog. If it was, Reddy 
would be with him. If only she could 
make him hear, he would come to her. 

“Come to me,” she called in fear. 

“To me,” answered a voice far off and as 
faint as the call of fairy voices. 

It was not Reddy’s voice. She forgot 
about Reddy and the dog. 

“Come to me,” she called again. 

“Come to me,” answered the voice more 
invitingly than ever. 

After all, why not? It was lonely in the 
cabin and she might find friends. It took 
all her strength to push open the big door. 


164 THE BROWN CASTLE 

It seemed as if the wind were trying to shut 
her in against her will. 

It was quite dark. Jagged pieces of 
gray cloud scudded across a bleak sky, 
trying to shut out the stray moonbeams 
which were struggling through. 

Paths led in all directions. They were 
gloomy paths bordered with tall trees that 
seemed to cast unfriendly shadows. 
Which should she take? Puzzled and 
confused, she turned first one way and 
then the other. They seemed just alike, 
stretching out as far as eye could see, a 
long weary road for little feet to travel. 

As she stood there, hesitating and unde¬ 
cided, a tiny spark of light flashed on a 
huge fern near by. A firefly! She had 
not seen one since she had moved from 
the country. What was the story that her 
mother used to tell her? It was some¬ 
thing about the Castle of Heart’s Delight, 
where fireflies lit up the darkness on sum¬ 
mer evenings. 


THE CASTLE OF HEARTS DELIGHT 165 

Perhaps this firefly had come from 
there. Perhaps he could point out the 
way. Probably the very path she was on 
would lead her there. It was a much 
nicer path than the other, for it was not so 
big. Besides it twisted and turned instead 
of going straight ahead. Perhaps the 
Castle was just around the first bend. 

The firefly flew on before her as she 
trudged up the twisting path. Up, up, 
and up, but strange to say, the higher she 
went the easier the path became. Once 
a tiny brooklet crossed her path, and be¬ 
fore skipping lightly over it, she knelt 
down and drank deeply of the sparkling 
water. 

After that the way seemed much easier. 
Whether the path was not as steep as it had 
been before or whether the water had 
given her new strength, she did not know 
or care, but after that every bit of doubt 
and fear was gone. Even the darkness 
seemed gone, for she could see that the 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


166 

trees were farther apart and that there were 
wide, grassy places between them. 

Between the vista of trees could be seen 
a lofty castle bigger and better than 
anything that Betty had ever seen, yet 
strangely familiar in its outline. Yes, it 
was just like the Brown Castle, only much 
bigger and more beautiful. The very 
flowers in the garden were fairer and 
smelled sweeter. The whole air was laden 
with the fragrance of roses and lilies. 

Betty pressed forward eagerly. It was 
so beautiful and she was so nearly there. 
Surely nothing could bar her way now. 
But there was a barrier. A tall hedge, 
matted together and bearing fine needle¬ 
like points, was in her way. 

Poor Betty! Was it any wonder that 
the tears filled her eyes or that she threw 
herself down upon the soft grass and cried 
as if her heart would break. 

How long she lay there she never knew, 
but it seemed a long, long while. Finally 


THE CASTLE OF HEART’S DELIGHT 167 

she lifted her eyes again to look at the cas¬ 
tle. Coming down between the flower¬ 
beds was the figure of a woman. Was it 
the Princess? 

No, she was older than the Princess. 
Could it be? Betty held her breath. Yes, 
it was her own dear mother coming to meet 
her. But such a different mother! All 
the lines of care and worry were erased 
from her face, and her eyes and lips held a 
happy smile. 

Betty lifted piteous hands towards her 
over the hedge of thorns. Without speak¬ 
ing, she drew nearer. Right through the 
barrier she came. The thorns seemed to 
draw back to let her through. In another 
moment Betty was in her mother’s arms. 

They did not speak. There seemed to 
be no need of that. Just being together 
was enough. It could not last forever. 
In a little while Betty lifted her head. 
There beside them was the Princess, grave, 
sweet, and anxious. 


168 THE BROWN CASTLE 

With a little sigh, Betty’s mother laid the 
child’s hand in that of the Princess. 
Bending down she lightly kissed the 
child’s lips and silently pointed the way 
down the hill. 

Hand in hand with the Princess she 
started back down the hill, only pausing 
now and then to wave to the white-clad 
figure at the top of the hill. 

Pictures then grew indistinct. The 
trees, path, and hill melted into one big 
blur. Only the face of the Princess re¬ 
mained, grave, sweet, and loving. Again 
she was in a room with her Princess bend¬ 
ing over her. 

The tide had turned for the better. 


CHAPTER TWELVE 


A NEW WORRY 

B ETTY’S recovery was rapid. 
The love of the Princess, the 
pleasant surroundings, the doc¬ 
tor’s medicine, and the little notes that the 
other children sent in, all helped along. 
She was perfectly happy. Had not the 
Princess told her that Grandmother was 
being taken care of and that everything 
was going to turn out beautifully? 

How lucky she was to be able to live at 
the Castle during her sickness! Every¬ 
thing in her room was pretty. The walis 
were cream-colored, sprinkled with blue 
forget-me-nots. The furniture was white- 
enameled. On the bed was a pale-blue 
cover with a lace edge. The whole room 
seemed designed for a little girl. 

169 


170 THE BROWN CASTLE 

It is true that the carpet and the forget- 
me-nots on the wall were faded, for it had 
been a long time since the second princess 
had been a little girl and had owned the 
blue forget-me-not room, but that did not 
matter to Betty. She wondered about the 
second princess. 

She must have loved the young man very 
much indeed to have been willing to leave 
such a lovely place. Poor second prin¬ 
cess! Poor little Princess Anne! This 
room should belong to the Little Lost 
Anne. 

Betty wished that she might be the one 
to find the Little Lost Anne. The Prin¬ 
cess had done so much for her that she 
longed to do something big to show how 
grateful she was. 

By the middle of July Betty was out on 
the piazza. It was a thin, fragile, little 
Betty, quite unlike the active little girl of 
the early summer, but it was really she, 


A NEW WORRY 


171 

and the girls clustered about her like bees 
about a sweet flower. 

Of course at first they were allowed to 
stay only a few moments, but it was so good 
to see them again. In such pleasant sur¬ 
roundings and with such good care, Betty 
grew rapidly better. By the end of July 
she was very nearly well. The doctor 
was very much pleased with her progress. 

As she grew better she began to think 
more about her grandmother. She knew 
that she was no longer at home, for the 
Princess had told her that she had gone to 
be cared for at a place where people knew 
just what to do for frail old ladies, but 
nothing ever was said about the time when 
Grandmother would come back. Betty 
began to worry. 

Grandmother had sometimes said when 
things went wrong that some time she 
would be taken away to the Old Ladies’ 
Home, and when that happened Betty 


173 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


would become a charity child taken 
care of by the city. Betty had always 
dreaded it. 

It would be terrible to leave Myrtle and 
the Princess. She knew how hard Dick 
worked so that Marjorie need not become 
a charity child. Orphan asylums must be 
terrible places. 

That evening Betty timidly questioned 
the Princess. 

“Is my grandmother in an Old Ladies’ 
Home?” she asked, with fear in her heart 
and trouble in her eye. 

The Princess drew her close. Never 
did she seem so near and dear to Betty as 
she did each night when she tucked her 
into bed. 

“No, dear,” she answered, “she was so 
sick that the doctor took her to the hospital 
where he might take care of her better.” 

Betty gave a little sigh of relief. If Dr. 
Graham was taking care of Grandmother 
everything would be all right. Hadn’t 


A NEW WORRY 


173 


she heard Aunt Sally tell a neighbor that 
Dr. Graham had drawn Betty out of the 
Valley of the Shadow? Her fears were 
temporarily relieved. She had no way of 
knowing that her Princess was worried 
about her future, too. 

Such, however, was the case, for the 
Princess knew that the little girl’s grand¬ 
mother could not possibly get well. She 
was too old and frail. What would be¬ 
come of Betty when her grandmother 
was gone? Were there relatives? How 
would she find out about them? It 
seemed perfectly natural to take her prob¬ 
lem to the doctor for advice. He was so 
strong and reliable. 

The very next day she told him about it, 
and, as she fully expected, he was eager to 
help. At all events he would do his best 
to find out if there were relatives and 
whether they were willing to take Betty. 
He promised it earnestly. 

It seemed as if the surest and most reli- 


174 THE BROWN CASTLE 

able source of information would be the 
grandmother, but here he ran up against 
an unexpected barrier of opposition. At 
the word “relatives,” Grandmother’s lips 
closed up with a vindictive snap and re¬ 
mained closed. She did not deny that 
there were relatives. She simply refused 
to talk about them. His pleadings and 
wiles made no impression on her. He did 
not dare to press the point, fearing for his 
patient. 

Mrs. O’Toole had gone through the 
apartment during Betty’s illness, packing 
up things that belonged to Betty and her 
grandmother. The boxes had been re¬ 
moved to the Castle, but there had been 
nothing in any of them that might be con¬ 
sidered in the light of a clue as to whether 
there were other relatives. 

The Princess did not dare to question 
Betty while she was so weak and needed 
such careful attention. She liked to have 
the little girl with her, for she had grown 


A NEW WORRY 


175 


to love her dearly. Indeed, rather than to 
turn her over to the city authorities she 
would take her into her own home, but of 
course the child’s relatives had the first 
claim, and must be found if possible. 

That night Betty had a bad dream. She 
was standing before a grim brick building 
surounded by a very solid brick wall. In 
this wall was a massive iron gate fastened 
by a padlock. Betty was with the Princess 
and the doctor. They were not looking at 
her. There was a queer desolate feeling 
about her heart. The gate was opened by 
a tall, stern-looking man. Without speak¬ 
ing to either the Princess or doctor, he 
drew Betty inside and shut the door. As 
the great gate clicked behind her, she 
awoke shivering. 

So vivid was her dream and so lonesome 
and frightened had it made her that she 
could not endure to stay alone. She 
slipped out of bed and into the hall. The 
Princess heard her moving about and 


176 THE BROWN CASTLE 

called to her. In another moment she was 
snuggled in the Princess’s arms, but all 
she said when questioned was that she had 
had a very bad dream. 

From then on, a shadow seemed to hang 
over Betty’s happiness, a dread that was 
never very far away from her, even in the 
midst of her pleasure. 

Several days passed. Betty was listless. 
She would sit for minutes staring out of the 
window with a tiny worry-pucker between 
her eyes. The Princess was troubled 
about her but could not seem to get to the 
heart of the difficulty, for Betty shared her 
fears with no one. 

The children came to the Castle every 
day. Usually they amused themselves in 
the barn, gardens, or yard, but one part of 
the day was set aside for the Princess and 
stories. Then the little girls sewed or 
made things with their hands while the 
boys cut out wonderful articles of wood 
with the knives and jig-saws which had 


A NEW WORRY 


177 


been presented by the doctor. Sometimes 
he would run over to help them and would 
stay to talk with the Princess. This was 
the time of day that the Princess and the 
children got together to talk things over. 

One day she was a little bit late in com¬ 
ing. Betty informed the others that she 
had a surprise for them, but what it was, 
even she had no idea. 

“It’s a happy one,” she told them, “for 
her eyes were all smily.” 

“Maybe it’s something to eat,” sug¬ 
gested Tubby, licking his lips as if he con¬ 
sidered that would be the happiest kind of 
a surprise as far as he was concerned. 

Reddy’s lip curled. “Eat, eat, eat all 
the time! All you think about is stuffing 
yourself like a Thanksgiving goose.” 

Tubby tackled Reddy, and together they 
rolled over and over on the lawn. The 
scrimmage was all in fun, though, and 
soon they stopped, abashed at the sight of 
the Princess at the front door. 


i 7 8 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


In her hand was an open letter, and joy 
was in her face. Soon all were com¬ 
fortably settled, waiting for they knew not 
what pleasure. Something unexpected 
was about to happen; that they could all 
see. 

“Do you remember the story I told you: 
‘The Coming of the King’?” she asked. 

They nodded. It had been a pretty 
story, but what bearing that could have 
upon the Princess’s surprise they couldn’t 
imagine. 

“The King is coming here,” announced 
the Princess solemnly. 

Myrtle sprang upon her with delight. 
“Truly?” she demanded. “The very same 
king that used to play with the two little 
princesses? Is it the same one that was 
so sorry that he was mean to the second 
princess?” 

“Yes,” replied the Princess with a smile, 
“my grandfather is coming this very week. 
I do not know just when, for he wanted 


A NEW WORRY 


179 


that to be a surprise. Would you like to 
hear me read his letter?” 

“Yes,” they chorused. 

The Princess unfolded the letter, and 
read: 


“Magnolia Terrace, 

“Florida. 

“My dear Virginia : 

“I am breaking the old oath, dear, for I 
am coming back to the old house that I 
vowed never again to enter. A bad prom¬ 
ise it was, better broken than kept. 

“I am planning to come this week, al¬ 
though as yet I have not decided upon the 
day. I can hardly wait to see the results 
of our enterprise. Perhaps the pleasure 
of doing for your little friends will dimin¬ 
ish the old sorrow of not being able to lo¬ 
cate the little lost Anne. While I am there 
I will try again to find my little girl. 

“Give my love to all the dear children 
and tell them to leave a warm spot in their 
hearts for the ‘King of the Brown Castle.’ 

“Always your loving, 
“Grandfather.” 


180 THE BROWN CASTLE 

The Princess’s grandfather was com¬ 
ing! Why, it seemed as if some favorite 
fairy tale were springing to life, and that 
somehow they were all parts of it. There 
was much to be done. It would never do 
for the King to find weeds in the garden 
or dust in the playhouse. Without an ex¬ 
ception, all the children pitched in to work. 

It was wonderful for Betty to be able to 
be with them again. She worked as hard 
as the Princess would allow, and enjoyed 
every minute of it, but all the time in con¬ 
trast with the present joy was the forebod¬ 
ing of the separation that was to come. 

In imagination Betty could see herself 
taking a tearful farewell of her dear Prin¬ 
cess and Myrtle. She had thought about 
it so much that it seemed very real. The 
separation, the lonely trip to the asylum, 
the difficulty of getting acquainted with 
new people, and the terrible alone feeling! 
Betty was naturally timid, and she hated 
all prospect of change. 


A NEW WORRY 181 

To hide the tears that she felt welling 
up in her eyes, she caught up Marjorie 
and hid her hot, unhappy face in the pink 
rompers. Marjorie sensing trouble in a 
mysterious baby fashion threw chubby 
arms about Betty’s neck and covered her 
face with loving kisses, if a trifle moist. 

During the next two or three days Betty 
was sad at intervals, and the Doctor shook 
his head over her. 

“Something is the matter with her,” he 
told the Princess. “She isn’t gaining as 
fast as she should, and I’d be willing to 
guarantee that she is not eating as much as 
she should.” 

The Princess shook her head. 

“Well,” went on the doctor, “we might 
try to find out what is the trouble.” 

“I have tried to find out,” protested the 
Princess, “but she just shakes her head to 
let me know that there is nothing the mat¬ 
ter which she can tell about. Wild horses 
couldn’t drag it from her. I had no idea 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


182 

the child was so resolute. She looks per- 
fectably miserable, but she won’t say a 
word.” 

“It runs in the family,” replied the doc¬ 
tor. “I just tackled the grandmother 
again this morning in a vain hope of find¬ 
ing out whether or not there were relatives, 
but I might just as well have been ques¬ 
tioning the Sphinx itself. At best she has 
only a week or so to live, and I am getting 
to doubt whether we shall get her to speak. 
Let me try with Betty, though. We are 
pretty good friends. Perhaps she will 
tell me.” 

Betty was called in from the garden 
where she had been reading. She smiled 
when she saw the visitor, for during her 
convalescence they had become very good 
friends. To her, he was a magician who 
chased away all the pain and ugly dreams 
of her sickness. 

“I have been hearing sad tales of you, 
Betty-girl,” he began gravely. 


A NEW WORRY 


183 


Betty looked at him in surprise. She 
did not remember doing anything partic¬ 
ularly naughty. He looked very grave 
and Betty was troubled. She slipped an 
affectionate arm about his neck. 

“I didn’t know that I had done anything 
bad,” she said. “What was it?” 

He drew her down on his knee and 
looked at her. 

“You are making your Princess very 
unhappy,” he said quietly. “She knows 
that there is something that is bothering 
you and making you feel bad and it dis¬ 
turbs her. Can’t you tell me what is the 
trouble?” 

The ready tears sprang into Betty’s eyes 
and one rolled down her cheek and 
splashed on the doctor’s hand, but she 
shook her head. 

“Won’t you tell me?” persisted the doc¬ 
tor holding her fast, for she wanted to slip 
away from him. 

However, no coaxing, insisting, or dis- 


184 THE BROWN CASTLE 

pleasure would move her. It seemed 
strange that so sensitive and timid a girl 
could keep her secret to herself. 

It does seem strange that no one guessed 
that Betty was worried about the Old 
Ladies’ Home and the Orphan Asylum, 
but they did not realize that since her 
mother’s death Betty had been prepared 
for the time when she would be given over 
to the city. From stories she had read, she 
had gained the idea that that was the worst 
thing which could happen to a little girl. 
How was she to know that the city was her 
best friend? 

The days were now bitter-sweet to Betty. 
Every day she woke up expecting to be 
sent away, and every night she dreaded it 
for the coming day. She was surprised 
that her time of comfort and loving atten¬ 
tion had lasted as long as it had. 


CHAPTER THIRTEEN 


THE COMING OF THE KING 

HE house was put in order from 



cellar to garret in honor of the 
King. Every room was ar¬ 


ranged as nearly as possible as it had been 
years ago when the house was the beloved 
Castle of its returning master. 

How different it was from the neglected 
Castle of only a very few months ago! 
The air of gloom which always pervades 
an empty house was entirely gone. Crisp 
white curtains fluttered at open windows. 
Smoke came from the chimney. The 
rose-bush was carefully trained to run 
where it would be most beautiful, and the 
garden, formerly a waste of weeds and 
briers, presented a flourishing promise of 
goodies and beauty to come. 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


186 

Betty was in the garden industriously 
searching for a many-legged worm that 
was playing havoc with aster plants that 
were her pride and joy. During her sick¬ 
ness, Myrtle had taken care of the garden, 
and since then both little girls had entered 
into a partnership whereby Myrtle would 
benefit by Betty’s vegetables and Betty 
would share the flowers of Myrtle. So al¬ 
though the aster plants really belonged to 
Myrtle, Betty was on her hands and knees 
looking for the naughty worm. 

Although she was not naturally vicious, 
her intentions toward the unsuspecting 
worm were as baleful as might be im¬ 
agined. 

“Fee, fi, fo, fum, 

I see the trail of a wire-worm, 

Be he alive or be he dead, 

I’ll smash his back and break his head.” 

That is what she was, a giant searching 
out her victims. She found several. So 


THE COMING OF THE KING 187 

intent was Betty that she did not see a pair 
of keen blue eyes looking at her closely. 
She did not see the tall, rather dignified 
old man on the other side of the fence. 

Neither did she see Marjorie Jones who 
was approaching from the house armed 
with a very small watering-pot. The first 
she knew of her presence was when a gen¬ 
tle rain-storm broke suddenly over her 
head. 

“You little mischief!” she exclaimed, 
jumping up quickly, “just see what 
you have done on my clean dress and my 
hair!” 

Marjorie gurgled with joy and again 
brandished the watering-pot. Betty, after 
shaking the water from her hair, tried to 
get the watering-pot away from the chubby 
fingers that held it so tightly, but Marjorie 
had other ideas. She clung to it with all 
her baby strength and Betty wisely gave 
up trying to get it away from her. 

“See,” she exclaimed, “see, Marjorie, 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


188 

how very dry the poor flowers are. I just 
know that they are thirsty. Let’s play that 
they are babies and that you are feeding 
them from a silver cup.” 

“Mik?” questioned the baby. 

“Yes,” responded Betty, “real milk from 
a silver cup.” 

“From a silly cup,” prattled Marjorie 
and with much baby talk of, “Pitty flous, 
kirsky. Marjie give um mik,” the water 
that remained in the pot was sprinkled 
over the asters, the lawn, Reddy’s potatoes, 
and whatever else caught her attention, in¬ 
cluding the gray kitten and the puppy, 
which did not in the least appreciate the 
favor. 

That being accomplished and as many 
worms disposed of as were to be found, 
Marjorie was ready for entertainment. 

“Tell a tory,” she begged, pulling at 
Betty’s dress. “Tell a tory.” 

Betty pulled her down beside her and 
rolled her over and over. “You don’t 


THE COMING OF THE KING 189 

want a story. What you want is a spank¬ 
ing.” 

Marjorie gave Betty several soft little 
slaps, which she considered severe pun¬ 
ishment. 

“Me spank,” she said, “you tell a tory.” 

“Well, once upon a time there lived a 
little girl in a horrid place,” began the 
story-teller. “She was very unhappy and 
she often cried and cried.” 

“Kied and kied,” replied Marjorie while 
the old gentleman on the other side of the 
fence drew nearer in order to hear every 
word, although he took good care to keep 
out of sight behind the clump of lilacs. 

“Yes, she cried because she didn’t have 
any one to love her except a little sick 
grandmother who said that some time the 
little girl would have to go to the orphan 
asylum. 

“One day the little girl was sick and a 
dear good fairy took her away to fairy¬ 
land. The fairy was so good to her. In- 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


190 

stead of old rags she was dressed in rose- 
petals, and she had the nicest things to eat 
and play with.” 

“Eat?” asked Marjorie. “Mik?” 

“Bread and milk and oranges, too,” re¬ 
plied Betty, naming the things that Mar¬ 
jorie particularly liked. “There were 
birds outside the windows and flowers 
everywhere. The fairy was so good. 
She told the little girl stories and kissed her 
when she was in bed, and the little girl was 
so happy that for a long time she forgot 
all about the orphan asylum, but by and 
by she began to remember. She knew 
that she must soon leave fairy-land and go 
back to the horrid place or the asylum, and 
she was sad.” 

Marjorie had not understood three 
words of the story, but the tall man behind 
the clump of lilac-bushes did understand. 
This child must be the little Betty of the 
Princess’s letter, and fear of the orphan 
asylum was what was troubling her. You 


! 



“She didn’t have anyone to love except a little sick 

GRANDMOTHER. ’ ’ — Page 189. 





THE COMING OF THE KING 


191 

see, the King had quietly come back to his 
kingdom, and, like the kings of the old 
fairy tales, going about in disguise had 
discovered what was troubling the heart of 
one of his little subjects. He smiled softly 
as he strode up the walk to the Castle en¬ 
trance. 

The Princess was sewing by an open 
window. Glancing up, she saw the tall 
man and hastily jumped up. Down on 
the floor dropped her work, unheeded. 
The spool of thread rolled off under the 
what-not, but the Princess paid no atten¬ 
tion to it. In a flash she was out on the 
piazza and in another moment was in her 
grandfather’s arms. 

Betty and Marjorie hearing her joyful 
exclamation hurried from the garden. It 
was like going to meet some famous char¬ 
acter out of a book. The arrival of Ali 
Baba or the Old Man of the Sea himself 
could not have awed Betty more. And 
yet he was not such a fearsome personage, 


192 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


either. Soon she felt quite at ease with 
him. 

That evening as they all sat together on 
the front piazza Betty tried to put into 
words her feelings toward him. She was 
seated on the arm of his chair and his arm 
was about her. 

“I was awfully afraid of you, just at 
first,” she exclaimed. “It seemed as if you 
must be like one of the magicians of Alad¬ 
din’s lamp that could work all sorts of 
magic.” 

“Not all,” he said a trifle sadly, as he 
thought of the little Lost Princess Anne. 
Then he thought of the story that he had 
heard Betty tell in the garden, and a sud¬ 
den idea almost popped into his head. 

“No,” he said gravely, “I am a rather 
poor magician, but like many other kings 
I do possess some power. Now, for 
example, when it comes to making 
wishes come true, I am a regular wizard. 
Wouldn’t you like to try out my power?” 


THE COMING OF THE KING 


193 


“How?” breathed Betty wistfully. 

“Well,” replied the King, “you know 
how to write letters, don’t you?” 

Betty nodded. “I am in the second part 
of the fourth grade,” she answered, “and 
we often write letters in school.” 

“That will do excellently,” said the 
King rubbing a smile off his face with the 
back of his hand. “Now, have you any 
writing-paper?” 

“There is some pink paper in my desk,” 
put in the Princess. “It used to belong to 
the second princess.” 

While Betty was looking for the station¬ 
ery the King told the Princess what he had 
heard in the garden. 

“Now that we know what is troubling 
her, we shall know what to do to make her 
happy,” said the Princess. 

“Don’t say anything about it to-night,” 
warned the King. “I want to work my 
fairy-tale scheme.” 

The Princess smiled and kissed him, 


194 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


“You old fairy humbug,” she said play¬ 
fully. 

“You wait, young lady, and see if I am 
a humbug,” was his reply. “But,” he 
continued, “I think we had better go in, 
for it is too dark for the child to write 
here.” 

Betty had not been able to find the pa¬ 
per, but as the Princess knew just where 
to lay her hand upon it, Betty was soon 
ready to write. 

“Now,” said the King impressively, 
“you^are going to write a letter to the King 
of the Brown Castle telling exactly what 
you want most of anything. When the 
letter is finished, seal it with sealing-wax 
so that no one can open it without your 
knowing, and place it on the corner of the 
mantelpiece. It will remain there un¬ 
opened by me or any one else. Within 
the year your wish will come true.” 

Betty looked up at him with wondering 
eyes. Surely there were no such things 


THE COMING OF THE KING 195 

as fairies and magicians, however much 
one might pretend, and yet the King had 
actually promised her that she would get 
her wish and he didn’t seem to be making 
fun, either. If he really could make 
wishes come true—well, anything was 
worth trying. She drew the paper to her 
and began to write. 

Writing letters to kings was a serious 
matter, and it took several trials on yellow 
paper before she was satisfied with the re¬ 
sult. One word had to be looked up in the 
dictionary. She did not care to ask the 
Princess or the King how to spell “asy¬ 
lum.” Looking up words in the diction¬ 
ary was a difficult matter, too. It was a 
thing they had learned in school just be¬ 
fore vacation. Just as she was about to 
seal the letter she thought of something 
else. 

“May I ask for two things?” she asked. 

The King looked at her from over the 
top of his newspaper. “I can’t really 


ig6 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


promise more than one, but put it down 
as a sort of postscript. I’ll do what I can 
about it,” he replied. 

After putting down the second wish, 
Betty read the whole letter through to see 
whether it was free from mistakes. This 
is what she had written: 

“The Brown Castle, 

“July 14. 

“Dear King, 

“You said that I could wish for anything 
I wanted. There is just one thing that is 
bothering me. I dont want to go to the 
orfans asylum. Please keep me from go¬ 
ing. I’d like to stay hear forever but that 
is too much too ask. I’ll love you always 
if you do that for me. 

“Your loving friend, 
“Elizabeth Anne Brown. 

“P. S. If you can’t make and get the 
things that you want for yourself and can 
make too of my wishes come true my sec¬ 
ond wish is that you find the lost princess.” 

When she had read it through and had 


THE COMING OF THE KING 


197 


approved it, she ran her little pink tongue 
along the glue on the envelope flap. The 
Princess showed her how to drop the 
melted pink wax on the flap, and let her use 
her engraved ring to make a pretty little 
pattern on the wax. After that Betty went 
upstairs to bed. 

It couldn’t have been more than ten 
minutes after that, for Betty had taken only 
one shoe off, when the bell rang. A min¬ 
ute later she heard the doctor’s voice in the 
hall. With one shoe in her hand she 
limped to the top of the stairs, intending to 
call down to him, but before she had 
a chance to speak, his voice came up to her 
clearly. 

“She is dead,” Betty heard him say. “I 
think she was trying to tell me something 
about Betty, but none of us could make out 
what it was.” 

“Poor Betty!” sighed the Princess. “It 
will be an awful shock to her. We won’t 
tell her just yet. I have been planning to 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


198 

take her away as soon as my Grandfather 
came, for I knew I could safely leave the 
Castle in his hands.” 

Betty heard no more. The worst had 
happened. Her grandmother was gone, 
and there was no one who wanted Betty. 
Even the Princess was planning this mo¬ 
ment to take her away. 

Hot tears came into her eyes as she 
slipped into her little white nightgown. 
She knelt down by the window to say her 
prayers as her mother had taught her. 
The stars seemed very near and beautiful. 
Somehow she did not feel quite so bad as 
she did before. Somewhere above those 
stars were Mother and Grandmother. As 
she crept into bed, she remembered the 
King’s promise and fell asleep with a 
smile on her face. 


CHAPTER FOURTEEN 


MORE MAGIC 

W HEN Betty awoke the next 

morning nothing was said of 
her grandmother’s death or 
about any plans for leaving the Brown 
Castle. The morning was much as usual. 
It was true that the Princess seemed hur¬ 
ried and spent quite a long time in the 
King’s library talking in low tones with 
the door shut, but they often did that. 
Soon afterward the Princess called Betty. 
Evidently it was coming, the much- 
dreaded separation. 

Looking perfectly miserable, Betty 
slowly entered the room. The Princess 
had on a dark-colored dress and wore a 
hat. A hand-bag lay on one of the tap¬ 
estry chairs. That meant that she was go- 

199 


200 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


ing somewhere. Betty’s own hat was 
there, too. That meant that Betty was go¬ 
ing. Was the Princess going to take her 
away without giving her a chance to 
say “Good-by,” to the other children? 
Wouldn’t she ever see Myrtle again? In 
silent dismay she looked at the Princess. 

“I am going down-town, Betty,” smiled 
the Princess, “and I thought that you 
would like to go with me. Wash your 
hands and face as quickly as possible, for 
Grandfather is waiting to take us in the 
auto.” 

With a much lighter heart Betty skipped 
away to do as she had been told. Perhaps, 
after all, it was not going to happen to-day. 
Betty knew that the Princess would not 
take her away for good without giving her 
a chance to gather together her belong¬ 
ings. She drew a sigh of relief. 

As the big car purred and rolled off 
toward down-town, Betty settled back and 
folded her hands contentedly. There was 


MORE MAGIC 


201 


a smile on her face and her fears were for 
the moment forgotten. 

It really was a wonderful morning. 
They went to several big stores and 
shopped. Betty had been to some of the 
stores before, but never had she seen such 
buying as the Princess indulged in. It 
seemed as if she had a bottomless pocket- 
book. 

Betty loved the pretty things that she 
saw. Laces, ribbon, toys, and books, they 
looked at. Then they bought things. 
Pretty gingham, blue, pink, green, and 
brown was piled up for their choice. The 
Princess let Betty choose. There was no 
doubt but that the blue was the prettiest. 
It was just the color of the forget-me-nots 
on the wall of Betty’s room. It would 
look very well on the Princess, too. 

And yet the pink was lovely, as well. It 
looked like the rosy little clouds at sunset. 
And the green! Who could resist that 
cool lettuce color? Betty, remembering 


202 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


the days of her sickness and the terrible 
burning-up feeling, laid her cheek against 
the lovely stuff. 

The Princess smiled as she gave an or¬ 
der to the clerk. She also smiled as the 
clerk measured off three yards of blue, 
three yards of pink, and three yards of 
green. Betty was worried. She plucked 
at the sleeve of the Princess. 

“Three yards is an awfully little lot,” she 
whispered. “Can you make a dress out of 
so small a piece?” 

“I am sure it will answer my purpose,” 
replied the Princess after she had given the 
address of the Brown Castle to the clerk. 

Silks came next. They looked like the 
belongings of fairies. Some of the silk 
was filmy and airy. It fluttered at the 
least movement of air. Some was rich and 
heavy-looking. The colors were mixed. 
It looked as though it might have belonged 
to some Eastern prince or magician. 

Betty wandered from one roll of silk to 


MORE MAGIC 


203 


another like a drab little moth among the 
roses, lilies, and daffodils of a beautiful 
garden. “It is a fairy store,” she said, 
running an exploring finger over a won¬ 
derful piece of turquoise blue. 

“If you might have a silk dress, Betty, 
which of these would you choose?” asked 
the Princess. Betty pondered, with her 
head a little to one side. 

“I think I’d like a white one,” she fi¬ 
nally answered. “I haven’t had a white 
dress since I came to the city to live. 
Grandmother always picked out my 
dresses, and she always bought dark- 
colored things that would not show dirt. 
Besides, in my dream my mother had on a 
white dress, and it was all misty like this.” 
She laid her hand on a delicate roll of 
crepe de Chine. 

“You shall have your white dress, dear,” 
replied the Princess. “Aunt Sally will 
cut it out and fit it for you.” 

Betty gave a little skip of surprise and 


204 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


pleasure. Forgetting that she was in a 
store or that people might be looking, she 
threw both arms about the Princess and 
hugged her. 

The rest of the morning was a whirl of 
delight. New shoes, new hat, and a new 
coat were ordered and sent to the Brown 
Castle. Dainty underthings were also 
bought. The little nightgowns were lace- 
trimmed and had pretty ribbon at the neck. 
They were much too small for the Prin¬ 
cess. Betty’s eyes shone like twin stars. 

The shopping was not finished by noon. 
The Princess went to a big restaurant and 
ordered all manner of good things to eat. 
It was the first restaurant Betty had ever 
gone to, and it was a thrilling experience. 
It was a very tired little girl who came 
home to the Brown Castle that night. 

The last purchase of all had frightened 
her badly. It was a trim little steamer- 
trunk with her initials in big block letters 
on one end. A trunk meant traveling, 


MORE MAGIC 


205 


and traveling meant going away from the 
Princess and Myrtle. Although her fear 
of the orphan asylum was nearly gone be¬ 
cause of the King’s promise, still, she knew 
there was coming a time when she must 
leave. 

That evening the Princess told her. 
They were sitting in their favorite place on 
the piazza and the Princess’s arm was 
about Betty’s waist. The story was gently 
told. The Princess made Betty see how 
much happier Grandmother was now. 

Betty listened in silence, although tears 
ran down her face. 

“And about you, dear,” she went on and 
Betty held her breath. “Do you remem¬ 
ber whether Mother or Grandmother ever 
mentioned any relatives to you?” 

Betty wrinkled up her forehead in 
doubt. Somewhere, far back in her mem¬ 
ory, was a faint recollection of a tall man 
with a smile who used to tell her stories 
and sing to her. How he could sing! 


206 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


That was Daddy. But Daddy was gone, 
too. 

Mother and Grandmother had not 
talked much about relatives. It seemed as 
if there must be some, somewhere. 
Mother used to talk about a lovely gar¬ 
den where she and another little girl 
played with their dolls, but it was all con¬ 
fused. Strange to say, the story of the 
“Land of Heart’s Delight” was mixed up 
with her mother’s story. It was impos¬ 
sible to tell where truth left off and fairy 
tale began. It was most puzzling. 

Betty could not tell all this to the Prin¬ 
cess. It was so mixed. She was sure of 
nothing, so she merely shook her head. 
There was some letters somewhere that 
had been packed away in a little trunk that 
had belonged once to her mother’s mother. 
It was a small brown trunk. 

“Where is that trunk?” asked the Prin¬ 
cess. 

Betty shook her head. It seemed as if 


MORE MAGIC 


207 


it were stored somewhere, although she did 
not know whether it was in the city or in 
the town they had lived in before. She 
thought, however, that she remembered 
seeing her mother fold and put away a 
certain yellow-and-white rosebud dress 
that Betty had outgrown but was very 
fond of. She had worn that dress the first 
Sunday after she came away, so it must be 
stored in the city. 

“Where did you live before you came 
here?” questioned the Princess. 

“I can’t remember much about it,” re¬ 
plied Betty. “I was a little girl then, not 
quite six years old.” 

“Tell me about your old home,” urged 
the Princess. 

Betty’s eyes grew misty again. It was 
only a faint memory but a very sweet one. 
In the first place Mother had been happy 
and Daddy was there. They had lived 
with Uncle Peter in a little white cottage 
with pink roses growing over the door. 


208 THE BROWN CASTLE 

Sometimes Mother wore the roses in her 
hair. There had been a big dog. She 
could not remember his name, but she had 
loved him dearly. 

The Princess listened with interest, but 
there was nothing in Betty’s story that gave 
any real clue to the mystery. 

“Where is Uncle Peter now?” she 

l * 

asked. 

“He died, Princess,” responded the 
child, with a little quiver in her voice. 
“He lost lots of money and died. Then 
Mother and Grandmother came to the city 
to live. Mother went away and now 
Grandmother. They are all gone.” 

It was an incomplete story. Some of 
the links were gone completely and some 
were broken. Betty did not know her fa¬ 
ther’s first name. She did not know 
whether Uncle Peter was her father’s 
brother or her mother’s brother. There 
were hundreds of people in the United 
States named Brown. Brown? Browne? 


MORE MAGIC 


209 


There was not much difference except in 
the spelling. If only the Little Lost Anne 
could be found. Perhaps Betty had rela¬ 
tives who did not know her whereabouts. 
Perhaps they longed to find her. 

Betty was a child that any one might be 
proud to claim. Refined, dainty, and 
lovable, she had won a large place for her¬ 
self in the Princess’s heart. Virginia 
made up her mind that if no relatives could 
be found, she herself would take care of 
Betty, but she did not tell the child so, for 
fear that her hope might be shattered. 

She comforted the little girl as best she 
could, telling her not to worry, for she was 
sure that things would turn out in some 
happy way. That evening she told the 
King all that Betty had told her, confident 
that he would have some plan to suggest. 

“It is strange,” he told her seriously, 
“that I who am searching for a little girl 
should be also called upon to help find the 
relatives of another little child who has 


210 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


been separated from them. It seems al¬ 
most as if it were a task laid upon me from 
Above. I am glad that I have a chance to 
right some wrong that is other than my 
own.” 

The Princess put both arms about him. 
“Then you will do all you can for Betty,” 
she said softly. “I knew you would.” 

“I will do all that is in a man’s power,” 
he promised, “and at the same time I will 
begin the search again for my own little 
Anne. Somehow, I can’t explain just 
how, I feel as if I were going to succeed in 
both tasks. To-morrow I will begin, and 
I will not give up again until I succeed.” 


CHAPTER FIFTEEN 

THE SURPRISE 

A GREAT many things happened 
the following week. Aunt 
Sally was very busy in the 
sewing-room. There was the sound of the 
shears and the whirr of the sewing- 
machine. The bundles of blue and pink 
and brown gingham were transformed 
from mere pieces of cloth into charming 
little dresses, crisp and fresh, trimmed with 
organdy and narrow lace edges. Aunt 
Sally, too, was a fairy magician in her way. 

The dresses were much too small for the 
Princess. They were fitted on Betty. 
Could they be for her? It seemed too 
good to be true. 

There were the dainty little underthings, 
too. It seemed as if there was everything 


211 


212 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


that a little girl could possibly need. 
They were all carefully folded and put 
away in the little trunk that was placed in 
Betty’s room. Betty hated that trunk. It 
said as plainly as a trunk could say, “You 
are not going to stay. I am going to take 
you away with me.” 

Myrtle rejoiced at her friend’s good for¬ 
tune, but her face changed when she saw 
the trunk and heard Betty’s fears concern¬ 
ing it. She threw both arms about Betty 
and held her very close. 

“I am going to ask the Princess this very 
moment,” she declared stoutly. “I don’t 
believe she is going to send you away now 
for good, anyhow.” 

“Don’t do that,” begged Betty catching 
her friend by the arm. “The Princess 
doesn’t know. She is trying to find out 
whether I have any aunts or uncles or 
other relatives.” 

One morning shortly after this, the Prin¬ 
cess paid a visit to Mrs. O’Toole. All the 


THE SURPRISE 


213 


children were sent out, which gave an air 
of mystery to the visit. The Princess 
came away with a smile and a bundle. 
Mrs. O’Toole was smiling broadly when 
the children returned, but not one word 
would she say about the Princess’s visit ex¬ 
cept, “Wait and see.” It was most per¬ 
plexing. Myrtle racked her brains in 
vain for a possible explanation. 

What was in the bundle? Why was it 
going to the Princess? Why wouldn’t 
her mother tell? Perhaps Betty could 
throw some light on the subject. It was 
hard to wait until morning, and even when 
morning did come, there was quite a bit to 
do before she was allowed to play. 

When nine o’clock finally did come, 
more mysterious things happened. Myr¬ 
tle was instructed to wear her best hat and 
to carry a coat. She couldn’t understand 
it at all, for the day was very warm and the 
best hat was considered very choice. It 
was white straw trimmed with pink roses 


214 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


and satin ribbon, obviously not a hat in 
which to play. Myrtle was mystified. 

She was given another bundle to carry to 
the Princess. What could her mother be 
sending? She could tell nothing from the 
shape of the bundle. It was oblong, and 
of the same size as the bundle that the 
Princess took away with her the night be¬ 
fore. It was puzzling. Her mother 
kissed her several times before she went 
and held her very close for several mo¬ 
ments. One might almost think that 
Mother hated to have her go. 

To add to her surprise, the Princess ac¬ 
cepted the bundle as if she were expecting 
it. She told Myrtle to lay her coat and 
hat out on the bed in her room. There 
was a broad smile on her face. Was she 
laughing at Myrtle’s bewildered look? 

Both Betty and Myrtle were bidden to 
go out and play in the garden. They went 
slowly, and discussed the matter at length. 
Betty was as puzzled as her friend. She 


THE SURPRISE 


215 


could not throw any light upon the subject. 

In the house there were also signs that 
all was not as it usually was. Aunt Sally 
was bustling around in the kitchen, put¬ 
ting up a lunch of most generous propor¬ 
tions. Aunt Sally was a genius at putting 
up lunches. She took much pride in her 
accomplishment. 

“Some folks,” she was wont to say, “can 
act so well in de movies dat it makes one’s 
eyes water jes’ to look at ’em, but as for me 
I likes to make deir mouths water.” 

Surely the little triangular sandwiches 
done up so attractively in oiled paper, the 
lemonade which already was in the ther¬ 
mos bottle, the great fragrant peaches, and 
the chocolate cake, not to mention olives 
and candy, were enough to make any one’s 
mouth water. Betty and Myrtle, observ¬ 
ing from the window, beamed with ap¬ 
proval. Evidently it was going to be a 
picnic. 

Aunt Sally beamed broadly at all ques- 


216 THE BROWN CASTLE 

tions, but refused absolutely to answer any 
of them. However, as she passed out the 
ends cut from the loaf of chocolate cake, 
they felt satisfied with their raid. 

The whole thing was very upsetting, 
however, especially when Marjorie ar¬ 
rived with Dick, dressed in her next-to- 
best dress and also accompanied by a bun¬ 
dle. Myrtle immediately besieged Dick 
with questions, but he merely screwed up 
his face and winked at her. His lips 
seemed glued, but his eyes twinkled. 
Myrtle was at the point of bursting with 
curiosity. 

It was after ten when the express-wagon 
drew up at the door. One big trunk was 
carried out of the Brown Castle. It took 
two men to carry it. As soon as it was 
lifted into the truck, one of the men went 
back into the house. He soon returned 
bearing on his back Betty’s small trunk. 
There were her initials on one end. 

In sudden fear her eyes sought those of 


THE SURPRISE 


217 


the Princess, who was standing on the 
piazza. A quick smile reassured her. 
Evidently they were going somewhere, but 
not for good, or the Princess would not 
look so happy about it. It might be al¬ 
most anything that was pleasant. 

It was impossible to wait another mo¬ 
ment, however. They caught the Prin¬ 
cess and laughingly drew her to the big 
rocking-chair. Myrtle anchored her 
down by sitting in her lap. Betty perched 
upon the arm of the chair, and even Mar¬ 
jorie, feeling that something was called 
for, dragged impatiently at her skirts. 
The time had come to divulge the secret. 

.It sounded like a story. The Princess 
told about a pretty little cottage down by 
the sea where the waves lapped up against 
the yellow sand in a little harbor, and far¬ 
ther out slapped up briskly against huge 
rocks. It was a pleasant place where the 
wind blew roses into people’s cheeks and 
appetites grew amazingly. 


21$ THE BROWN CASTLE 

For two weeks they, the Princess, Mar¬ 
jorie, Myrtle, and Betty were to stay at the 
cottage. The King with the help of Aunt 
Sally was to stay at the Castle. While 
they were gone, the King meant to locate 
Betty’s trunk if he had to visit every place 
in the city where people stored things they 
were not using. 

•The bundles that came from Myrtle’s 
house and the one Dick brought contained 
the clothing they would need during their 
vacation. 

Neither Myrtle nor Betty had ever seen 
the sea, although both little girls had read 
fascinating books of sea-monsters, pirates, 
and mermaids. Fortunately for their 
peace of mind they did not have to wait 
much longer, for the King was ready to 
drive them down to the station almost im¬ 
mediately. Betty had barely time to slip 
into the darkest of the new gingham 
dresses. It was laid out ready for her on 
the bed. 


THE SURPRISE 


219 


Neither girls had had much experience 
with riding on the train. Myrtle had 
never ridden that way before and Betty 
only once. It was when they had moved 
from the country. 

“I used to be terribly afraid of trains,” 
she confided to Myrtle. “I thought they 
were monsters like dragons with fiery eyes 
that breathed out smoke and fire.” 

In spite of the heat, both girls enjoyed 
every minute of the ride. It seemed so 
queer to see the trees and houses slip by so 
quickly. 

“It’s just as if we sat still and all the 
ground ran away under us,” Myrtle told 
Betty. 

“Look, Betty!” she cried, “real water- 
lilies on the pond. I never saw any except 
one that Mrs. Pierce brought home with 
her the time she went to visit her daughter 
in the country. It had a gold center that 
looked like a tiny gold crown.” 

Before she had finished speaking the 


220 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


pond had disappeared in the distance and 
a pretty bit of woodland had taken its 
place. It was like turning over the leaves 
of a huge picture-book with new scenes on 
every page. 

Marjorie did not care for scenery, but 
she was good and happy. A new doll 
bought for the occasion absorbed every 
moment of her time. Much to the amuse¬ 
ment of the rest of the travelers, she sang 
it to sleep. The motion of the train made 
her sleepy, too, and it wasn’t long before 
she also was sound asleep with her head 
pillowed upon the new doll. 

Lunch created a happy diversion, and 
soon after that the train drew in at the sta¬ 
tion. Such a bustle! Every one seemed 
to be in such a hurry. Before the train 
had fairly stopped, the aisles were crowded 
with people anxious to be off. And then 
the confusion on the platform! Every 
one in a hurry! Small trucks perilously 
loaded and provided with motor attach- 


THE SURPRISE 


221 


ments threaded their way through the 
hurrying throngs of people. 

Every now and then came the grinding 
of machinery and the terrifying blasts of 
escaping steam that made Betty clasp the 
hand of the Princess in fear. A colored 
porter helped them to gather together their 
bags and bundles and did not leave them 
until they were safely out of the station and 
in a waiting taxicab. 

It did not take long to get to the wharf. 
Here again were bustling crowds of peo¬ 
ple, each trying to outdo the other in speed 
and noise. They had to stand in line with 
other people waiting for tickets. There 
was much to see. 

The walk over the gang-plank was ex¬ 
citing. Betty shuddered as she looked at 
the dark green water below. The gang¬ 
plank was so frail and so many people 
were crossing at once. What if it should 
break and all the people should go tum¬ 
bling into the sea! It was a dreadful 


222 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


thought. She wondered how many could 
swim. 

She whispered her thought to Myrtle. 
That young lady giggled. 

“Wouldn’t they look funny when they 
were fished out?” she replied. “Look at 
the lady with the lots and lots of feathers in 
her hat. I can see that hat after it was 
ducked, can’t you?” 

Just as Betty looked up, a playful little 
wind sprang up from somewhere. The 
billowy hat topped with ribbon and feath¬ 
ers caught the wind as a sail, and off it 
went. The lady shrieked and made a 
frantic attempt to regain it, but in vain. 

After a few dizzy swirls it struck the 
water, fortunately landing right side up. 
There, far below, it floated, with its rib¬ 
bons and feathers still bobbing cheerfully. 
There was more excitement. Some big 
boys on the wharf tried to get it by slip¬ 
ping the end of a long pole through a loop 
of the ribbon. At last after several vain 


THE SURPRISE 


223 


attempts it was returned, still flaunting its 
plumes, but rather the worse for wear and 
tear. 

The ride was delightful. The wind 
whipped the children’s faces until they 
glowed pink. A wide trail of creamy, 
churned-up water stretched out behind 
them, as the ship steamed out of the 
harbor. 

There were many smaller craft in the 
harbor also. Small sailboats skimmed 
over the water. Now and then a larger 
sailing-vessel with sails spread out like 
wings came into view. 

Wherever they looked, new wonders 
came into sight. They had not imagined 
that there could be so much water in the 
world. Not once were they out of sight 
of land. Once their boat passed another 
which was coming into the harbor. 
Every one cheered and waved. 

The voyage was all too short. Long 
before any one was ready for the trip to 


224 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


come to an end, the Princess told them that 
they were nearly there and pointed out a 
distant point of land. 

“The pier where we get off is there,” she 
told them. “Then will come a short ride 
to the cottage.” 

“It’s been a lovely trip,” sighed Betty, 
“and I have enjoyed every minute of it, 
but really, do you know, I’ll be glad to get 
somewhere where I can go to sleep.” 

“It’s because you have swallowed so 
much fresh air,” replied Myrtle sagely. 
“My mother says that we are all sleepy 
after we have been out for a long time in 
the air. This is the freshest wind I ever 
felt.” 

“I guess that’s what the lady thought 
when her hat blew off,” laughed Betty. 
“I was sorry for her, though, for it was a 
pretty hat.” 

The land became nearer. Instead of 
being merely a blur on the horizon, as 
it seemed at first, there were houses and a 


THE SURPRISE 


225 


big pier. It seemed as if the entire pop¬ 
ulation was on that pier. They cheered 
as the boat drew near and waved at the 
people on board. Every one seemed to 
have friends on board. 

Pretty ladies came down to meet their 
husbands who were returning from work 
in the city. Little girls and boys swarmed 
out to meet their fathers. They were 
waving handkerchiefs and throwing 
kisses. 

After a delay that seemed to last forever, 
the big ropes were thrown ashore to the 
men who were waiting to make fast the 
boat. The engines stopped throbbing. 
Again there was a stream of people cross¬ 
ing the gang-plank. The hubbub on the 
wharf increased. Automobiles whirled 
away. The Princess waited only long 
enough to see about baggage and then 
they, too, were on their way to the cottage 
by the sea. 

The sun was setting like a molten ball of 


226 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


gold in the west. It turned the clouds to 
gold and rose-color. It was beautiful, but 
the girls were too tired to appreciate it. 
The only thing that really interested them 
was the light lunch and then bed. 

“How still it is,” murmured Myrtle as 
the Princess took away the light. 

“Just the sound of the waves lapping up 
on the shore,” replied Betty. “It sounds 
like a lullaby, just as the Princess said. 
Good night.” 


CHAPTER SIXTEEN 


SEA WONDERS 

SAUCY sunbeam playing upon 



the faces of the sleepers woke 
Myrtle bright and early the 


next morning. She skipped out of bed and 
sped to the window facing the open sea. 

A glorious expanse of tossing blue 
water as far as she could see met her view. 
Against the grim granite rocks of the shore 
the waves threw themselves, only to 
break into a million sparkling jewels of 
foam and spray. Far out upon the sea 
a white-winged boat danced upon the 
waves. 

It was too lovely to keep to herself, so 
she tiptoed over to Betty’s cot. It did not 
take long for Betty to rub the sleep out of 
her eyes, and very soon two little white- 


228 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


gowned figures knelt at the open window 
taking their first glimpse of their new sur j 
roundings. 

“Look at that lovely big rock,” whis¬ 
pered Betty, “the one with the spray dash¬ 
ing against it. Do you suppose that it is a 
mermaid throne where a sea-maiden sits 
and combs her golden locks?” 

“Sea-green locks you mean,” answered 
Myrtle. “They always have green hair 
and eyes, you know. It looks like an en¬ 
chanted palace surrounded by an impass¬ 
able sea.” 

“It is the home of the wicked Hydrada,” 
Betty went on in a spooky tone. “On the 
left you can see the bottomless pit where 
she drowns her victims, and on the right 
is the dragon’s caldron.” 

“Yes,” continued Myrtle, “you can see 
the water bubbling up. I’d hate to be in 
Hydrada’s grip.” 

“Let us see what new wonders are in this 
fairy realm,” suggested Betty. They 


SEA WONDERS 


229 


went to the other window, a large one over¬ 
looking a little bay. In this the waters 
were calm and quiet, for huge rocks and a 
man-made causeway shut off the heavy 
waves and the fury of the open sea. 

It was almost high tide now, so the 
water was trickling over the causeway. 
On nearly all sides there were huge rocks, 
but on the side nearest the house a beauti¬ 
ful sandy beach sloped gently to the edge 
of the sea. The trees and grass came 
nearly down to the water. It was very 
pretty, and promised to furnish a wonder¬ 
ful place to play. 

Their rapture over this pleasing pros¬ 
pect was too great to be kept in a whisper, 
and in a few minutes the Princess entered 
the room, dressed in the pale-blue silk 
wrapper that had excited Myrtle’s admira¬ 
tion the second time she had seen her. 
Her hair fell in a golden shower over her 
shoulders. 

She smiled as she saw the little night- 


230 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


gowned figures at the window. Her right 
hand she held behind her, and there was 
in her eyes the hint of mystery that the 
girls loved. 

As soon as she appeared they started 
towards her, but she held up her left hand 
and bade them shut their eyes. With eyes 
screwed up tight and wide smiles on their 
faces they faced her. 

“Shall we open our mouths, too?” asked 
Myrtle mischievously, and Betty laugh¬ 
ing quoted the old saying: 

“Open your mouth and shut your eyes; 

I’ll give you something to make you wise.” 

“No, you rascals,” replied the Princess. 
“You are not little goats, and what I have 
is not digestible. Hold out your arms.” 

As she spoke she laid in each little girl’s 
arms a brown bundle, which upon being 
unrolled disclosed a complete set of khaki 
middy and bloomers. Beside that there 
were tan stockings and non-slip, rubber- 


SEA WONDERS 


231 


soled shoes. There was even a khaki- 
colored band for the hair. Both little 
girls shrieked with delight. It did not 
take them very long to get dressed in 
the new suits. There was a scramble at 
the end. 

“I won,” announced Myrtle proudly. 

“Oh, no, you didn’t,” retorted Betty, 
“for your band is upside down and your 
hair is all in a muss. Come here and let 
me fix it.” 

Breakfast was ready immediately, and a 
delicious breakfast it was. Muffins, corn¬ 
flakes with rich cream, and fresh fruit 
made a breakfast fit for a princess, as Betty 
said, with a loving glance at her Princess. 

Delicious as the breakfast was, the little 
girls could hardly wait, so eager they were 
to get on the beach. A small path led 
them to the little bay. 

“We’ll save old Hydrada until later,” 
said Betty, “for I had much rather explore 
this cunning little bay.” 


232 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


“Let’s pretend that we are pirates and 
have just landed in this harbor,” said Myr¬ 
tle. “I am Big Chief Walk-the-Plank. 
I havfe one hundred fifty pounds of gold 
which I am going to bury at sunset be¬ 
neath some scarred oak-tree. Woe betide 
any one who observes me, for I will 
slaughter him in cold blood and hang him 
up to a sour apple-tree.” 

“My, but you are fierce!” scoffed Betty. 
“What’ll I be?” 

“You can be Red Dirk, the bloody ter¬ 
ror of the Spanish Main. We’ll be part¬ 
ners and-” 

She broke off quickly with a gasp of 
delight as they turned a corner and saw 
below them the little bay. Shoes and 
stockings were off in a twinkling, and in a 
very few minutes twenty pink toes were 
wriggling in the warm water of one of the 
tide-pools. 

There was much to see and to marvel at. 
When the Princess came down the path an 



SEA WONDERS 


233 


hour later they had many treasures to show 
her and about a million questions, more or 
less, to ask. 

“Not both at the same time,” she cried 
laughingly. “What is that that you have, 
Myrtle?” 

Myrtle displayed several shells with 
little live things in them. The Princess 
took one gently in her hand and held it out 
for their inspection. 

“Once upon a time,” she began, “a dif¬ 
ferent kind of a little animal lived in this 
shell. His name was Periwinkle. He 
used to walk along the bottom of the sea 
waving his two little horns in the water and 
eating smaller animals that met his hungry 
little mouth. 

“Then it came his turn to be eaten, and 
the pretty shell was tossed about upon the 
floor surface of the sea without any little 
creature within its sheltering walls. 

“Now it happened that one little sea 
animal was not so well protected as the 


234 THE BROWN CASTLE 

others. Part of him, indeed, was armor- 
clad and further protected by hard, pinch¬ 
ing claws, but the rest of him was weak 
and soft. All the other little animals of 
the sea wanted to eat him, and made his life 
miserable by chasing him from cover to 
cover. 

“One day things were especially bad. 
Little Crab had been chased from one 
bunch of seaweed to another only nearly 
to fall into the clutches of a fierce sea- 
robber. Poor Crab; hastily he backed out 
with the robber close behind. There was 
no place to hide. The robber was nearly 
up to him. One snap of his horrid 
claws- 

“Just a little way off lay the cast-off shell 
of Periwinkle. It was too small to pro¬ 
tect all of little Crab, but quick as a wink 
he turned around backwards and wriggled 
his soft little body deep into the shell. 

“The sea-robber came up sure of getting 
a nice plump breakfast. But what a sur- 



SEA WONDERS 


235 


prise met him. A snapping pair of little 
scissors met him, and everywhere there 
was hard shell. After trying vainly to 
get at Crab, he went away very much dis¬ 
gusted and quite hungry to search for 
breakfast elsewhere. 

“Meanwhile Crab looked out of his re¬ 
treat wistfully. Oh, if he could always 
remain so well protected! Reluctantly he 
advanced a few steps. To his surprise the 
shell went along with him easily. He had 
solved the problem. From that day to this 
hermit crabs wear the cast-off shells of 
their neighbors, the periwinkles.” 

“Wasn’t he the cleverest thing, to think 
of that all by himself?” said Myrtle ad¬ 
miringly. 

“Does he ever come out of his shell after 
he has found one?” asked Betty. 

“Yes,” replied the Princess. “You see 
some are big and some are small, and the 
big ones are in big shells and the small ones 
are in small shells. When they grow up, 


236 


THE BROWH CASTLE 


they change their shells for larger ones.” 

After very careful pulling and twisting, 
Myrtle managed to get one of the hermit 
crabs out of the shell. She dropped him 
into a little pool of water in the hollow of 
the rock. Betty placed several small 
shells, one middle-sized, and a large one in 
the pool and watched as the hermit crab 
went from one to another trying to fit him¬ 
self to a shell. The small one was too small, 
and the large one was too large, but the 
middle-sized one was just right, and soon 
Hermit was peacefully ambling at the bot¬ 
tom of the rock pool. 

“There are many little people that live 
in the sea,” said the Princess, “and they 
all have interesting stories.” 

“Do you know what we can do, Myrtle 
O’Toole?” cried Betty. “We can make 
an aquarium just like the one Miss Brig¬ 
ham has in school, only instead of gold¬ 
fish we’ll keep all the different kinds of 
little sea things. The Princess will tell us 


SEA WONDERS 


237 


their stories and we can tell the ones at 
home.” 

“It is a good idea,” said the Princess. 
“There is a big dish-pan up at the cottage 
that I can spare you. Run up and get it, 
Myrtle. It is on the kitchen table.” 

It did not take Myrtle long to get it. 
While she was gone, Betty and the Prin¬ 
cess hollowed out a place in the sand for it. 

“We’ll put some of this nice white sand 
in it first and then fill it with water,” said 
Myrtle, as soon as she came within speak¬ 
ing distance. 

After the sand and water came what 
Betty called “the pretty work.” Trips up 
and down the beach brought to light many 
pretty stones. Some of them were milky- 
white and looked like pieces of marble; 
others were streaked with pink, yellow, 
and gray. When they were all collected 
they found that they had a great many 
more than they needed. It was hard to 
decide which were the prettiest. At 


238 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


Betty’s suggestion they arranged the left¬ 
overs around the edge of the pan. 

Seaweed came next, great masses of the 
floating stuff that made Betty think of the 
filmy laces they had removed from the old 
garments at the Castle. Some of it was 
fastened to rocks while some floated free. 
Each new bit seemed the most beautiful, 
so it was hard to decide which to use. 

“It’s sea-mermaids’ hair,” laughed Myr¬ 
tle, as she picked up a big bunch of green. 
“You know they come up to the surface 
and sit on rocks to comb their long 
green hair.” 

Betty laughed at the fancy and held up 
a bunch of red. 

“It is the first I ever heard of red-headed 
mermaids. Look at this one. It’s pink. 
That is the funniest yet.” 

Both girls giggled over the idea of a 
pink-headed mermaid. 

“Let’s pretend that our aquarium is a sea 
palace,” proposed Myrtle. “It is an en- 


SEA WONDERS 


239 


chanted palace where all the gentlemen 
and ladies have been changed into fish and 
crabs.” 

“That will be fun,” agreed Betty, turn¬ 
ing toward the sea. 

The rest of the morning was an exciting 
one, for the enchanted folk were hard to 
catch. The small crabs with their hard 
claws put up a gallant fight, as Myrtle’s 
pinched fingers testified. Betty was afraid 
to touch them at first, and contented her¬ 
self with collecting small hermit crabs and 
things she was very sure would not hurt 
her. Before it seemed as if an hour had 
passed, the tinkling of the dinner-bell 
called them to the house. 


CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 

HYDRADA 

T HE time seemed to fly at the cot¬ 
tage by the sea. Every day dis¬ 
closed some new wonder for the 
aquarium or some fascinating bit of 
knowledge. The dread that had been 
making Betty’s life miserable seemed to be 
gone. The days were too full for unhap¬ 
piness. 

Both children learned to swim. Myrtle 
loved the water and was soon paddling 
around in it quite at home. It took longer 
for Betty, for she was naturally timid and 
only sheer heroism impelled her into the 
sea. 

“I am going to put my head in to-day,” 
she announced. “I am going to take hold 
of my nose and go right under.” 


240 


HYDRADA 


241 


“Good,” replied Myrtle. “Do it 
twice.” 

Betty did, and came up shaking the 
water out of her ears and blowing it out 
of her nose and mouth. 

“Ugh!” she gasped, “I don’t see how any 
one possibly could like that.” 

“Do it again,” ordered Myrtle and Betty 
heroically obeyed. It was not quite so bad 
that time, and after doing it several times 
she did not mind it in the least. 

One day they went for a sail in the pretty 
Bonnie Maid. What fun it was skim¬ 
ming over the water! 

“It’s just like a lady curtsying to her 
partner,” said Betty as the boat dropped 
from the crest of a wave into the trough. 
Just then an exceptionally big wave reared 
up in front of them, breaking as it did so 
and throwing a drenching spray over the 
boat. 

“Oh!” cried Betty. 

“Oh, I am dripping wet!” cried Myrtle. 


242 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


“I have a drop of water in my eye and it 
feels as if the whole wave went down my 
neck, but I like it,” gurgled Betty. 

“You sound as if you had your mouth 
full as well,” laughed her friend. 

It is not surprising that with so many 
new things to see and do, old Hydrada, as 
they still called the grim rock in front of 
the cottage, was neglected. It is true that 
it was not forgotten, though, for often at 
night-time when the little girls were in bed 
they could hear the waves breaking against 
the rock, and it was at these times that they 
used to whisper in soft voices stories about 
the old monster. 

Myrtle said that she was inclined to be¬ 
lieve that it was a seven-headed, seven¬ 
tailed monster that lived at the base of the 
rock. Each tail, she said, would hold its 
victim while the corresponding head 
would eat it. Finding a large fish skeleton 
near by lent color to this idea of Myrtle’s. 

Betty thought Hydrada might be a beau- 


HYDRADA 


243 


tiful lady who, like the sirens of old, lured 
her victims to their doom. The smaller 
rocks that lay scattered about the dread 
spot were enchanted victims of the wicked 
thing. 

Surely the deep pool to the left of the 
monster rock and the whirlpool to the right 
of it gave the place a sinister look. The 
girls avoided it for the most part, finding 
plenty to keep them busy and amused on 
the bay side of the cottage. 

However, one afternoon it was terribly 
hot. The mercury in the thermoneter 
went up and up. It seemed as if it could 
not go so high. The Princess was lying 
down with a wet cloth on her head and the 
blinds were closed. The heat had given 
her a headache. 

Marjorie was asleep in the clothes- 
basket in the kitchen. The clothes- 
basket was a favorite place with her, and 
this was not the first time she had dropped 
off to sleep there. 


244 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


Betty and Myrtle were on the porch 
overlooking the water. The tide was 
nearly out and many of the usually sub¬ 
merged rocks were uncovered. Old 
Hydrada seemed taller than ever. Never 
had the tide seemed so low. 

“I bet we could get out to old Hydrada 
if we wanted to,” speculated Myrtle. 
“We could jump from stone to stone. 
Would you dare?” 

Betty hesitated. She knew that she was 
timid and was trying hard to overcome it. 
Still to go out to Hydrada, between the 
witch’s caldron and the bottomless pit was 
terrifying. 

“I-er-I guess so,” she said rather faintly. 
“We could start and if we don’t like it, 
we can come back,” she added hopefully. 

They were half-way to the beach before 
she noticed the shoes Myrtle was wearing. 

“You aren’t going to wear those, are 
you?” she asked pointing to Myrtle’s 
rather shabby footwear. 


HYDRADA 


245 


“They are the very oldest things I have,” 
replied Myrtle, sticking out her foot and 
looking at it critically. “I can’t possibly 
make that shoe look any worse. I wish 
I could wear them out so maybe I’d get an¬ 
other pair before school begins. What is 
the matter with my wearing them?” 

“I should think you would be afraid of 
slipping on the rocks. They are very 
slippery and some are simply covered with 
seaweed and barnacles. Where are your 
sneakers?” asked Betty. 

“They are wet,” answered her friend. 
“Don’t worry. I’ll be all right.” 

The tide was very low. It seemed 
strange to see so much of the beach un¬ 
covered. It was surprising how easy it 
really was to get out to the rock. Indeed 
it was so easy that the girls wondered why 
they had not tried before. 

Only one place made them hesitate. A 
huge rock had been split in two, leaving a 
wide chasm between the two halves. At 


246 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


the bottom was a small trickle of water, but 
it did not take much imagination to see 
how swiftly the tide would rush in and fill 
the opening. At high water, it would 
be impossible to cross, although it was not 
a difficult feat to do so at low tide. 

Even Myrtle hesitated as she looked 
across at old Hydrada, which towered 
above them on the other side, but not for 
long. She liked to go ahead and finish 
the things that she started. 

“It is a gloomy tower filled with captive 
princesses. It is our duty to rescue them. 
Come on, Betty,” and down she slipped 
into the gully, clinging with sturdy arms 
to the bunches of seaweed and digging her 
toes into the nitches in the rock. Arriving 
safely at the bottom, she turned to help 
Betty. 

The other side of the rock was more 
gradual, and easy to climb, although it was 
well over their heads. Just as they 
reached the top, Myrtle’s foot slipped and 


HYDRADA 


247 


only by clutching Betty’s arm did she save 
herself from rolling to the bottom again, 
but this was only a minor incident and was 
readily forgotten in the joy of actually 
standing on Hydrada. 

The side of Hydrada facing the cottage 
was steep. In it were various cracks and 
crevices without which ascent would be 
impossible. Even as it was, the climb was 
rather a breathless, dizzy one, and Betty 
gave a little sigh of relief when finally they 
stood on its summit. They felt as did 
Balboa when, after a hard and dangerous 
climb, he actually reached the top of the 
mountains, and looking over saw the broad 
expanse of the Pacific Ocean before him. 

A little breeze, bespeaking a change of 
tide, fanned their flushed faces. 

“It is actually the first breath of air I 
have felt to-day,” gloated Myrtle. “I just 
wish the Princess were here. It would 
drive away that sick headache.” 

“Look out over the water!” cried Betty 


248 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


excitedly. “There is the big steamer that 
we came on. It must be nearly five 
o’clock. Doesn’t it look lovely?” 

They watched as it drew nearer and 
clearer. Before a great many moments 
the boat reached the wharf and streams of 
people looking like little black ants hur¬ 
ried ashore. 

It was very pleasant on Hydrada. 
Even the bottomless pit and the Dragon’s 
caldron were much less terrifying when 
seen at closer range. Indeed they discov¬ 
ered that they had sadly misnamed the bot¬ 
tomless pit, for not very far below the 
surface of the water they could see sand 
and rocks with bunches of seaweed at¬ 
tached. 

“It isn’t even up to my waist,” said Betty 
scornfully, “and we called it bottomless.” 

“Well, it looked still and deep even when 
the tide was out,” said Myrtle stoutly. 
“Oh, just look at that lovely bit of sea¬ 
weed!” she exclaimed. “It’s all yellow 


HYDRADA 


249 


and lacy and isn’t a bit like any that we 
have. I must get it for my collection.” 

As she spoke she began cautiously to 
crawl down the slanting surface of rock. 

“Look out!” warned Betty, but it came 
too late. The leather shoe had slipped on 
a bit of seaweed. With a sickening thud 
Myrtle fell, striking her head against the 
rock. Limply she slipped down the rock 
falling with a splash into the water of the 
bottomless pit. She did not come up. 

As she had spoken, Betty stretched out 
her hand to grasp her friend but it was too 
sudden a fall. She scrambled down the 
steep incline, sure-footed in the rubber- 
soled shoes that she wore. As she reached 
the edge of the water, she saw Myrtle’s 
white face rising to the surface. 

Why didn’t she help herself? The 
water was only waist-deep. Why did she 
look so dead? Then Betty realized the 
truth. Myrtle had hit her head. She was 
unconscious. Perhaps she was dead. 


250 THE BROWN CASTLE 

Surely she would be dead if she stayed with 
her face under water. 

Clothes did not matter. She must save 
Myrtle, so down she splashed. It was a 
hard tussle to drag her out of the water, for 
the incline was steep and Myrtle was a 
dead weight in her arms. The water was 
deeper than they had imagined it to be. It 
came nearly to her arm-pits. 

She drew Myrtle close to the rock. 
Then keeping a firm hold on the back of 
Myrtle’s middy, Betty crawled a little way 
up the surface of the rock. Just a few 
inches, it was. Badly tired out, she 
stopped to get her breath. Using all her 
strength, she pulled Myrtle up to her level. 
Edging a bit farther she repeated the per¬ 
formance. Little by little, slowly and 
painfully she dragged her limp bundle up 
to the first level ledge, which was a few 
feet above the water. Then she dropped 
breathlessly down beside her friend. 


HYDRADA 


251 


Fortunately Myrtle was only stunned 
and had not been in the water long. Soon 
she opened her blue eyes wearily and Betty 
hugged her close, crying over her joyfully. 
She sat up rather dizzily and put her hand 
to the bump on her head. 

“Oh, I am so glad!” cried Betty. “Are 
you all right now?” 

Myrtle shook her head doubtfully. “I 
can’t see right,” she replied putting her 
head back into Betty’s lap. “Everything 
seems to be going round and round in 
circles, and my head is aching dreadfully.” 

“Are you too sick to get home?” asked 
Betty anxiously. 

“I don’t know. I’ll try,” replied Myrtle. 

With Betty’s help she slowly rose to her 
feet and started to climb up the rock, but it 
was much too much of a task. Dizzy and 
faint, she crouched down on the rock, pil¬ 
lowing the aching head in her hands. 
Betty stood beside her, badly frightened, 


252 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


but staunch. Something must be done 
and she was the only one to do it. But 
what could she do? It did not seem right 
to desert the sick friend, but Betty well 
knew that they ought not to stay on the 
rock any longer. 

The tide had been at lowest ebb when 
they had left the cottage but it would be 
turning shortly. The water came in fast, 
and although it never quite covered Hy- 
drada, it would separate them from the 
shore. The Princess was still asleep, 
probably, and they had not told her what 
they were going to do. Yes, the best way 
was for Betty to go alone to the cottage and 
bring back Uncle Ben in the boat. 

“Myrtle,” she said gently, “would you 
be dreadfully frightened if I left you for 
a little while? Some one ought to go and 
let them know we are here and that you are 
hurt.” 

Myrtle shivered. It was terrible to be 


HYDRADA 


253 


left alone on Hydrada. Still, she saw the 
truth of Betty’s words and steeled herself 
to be as brave as she could. 

“I guess that you had better,” she re¬ 
plied. “I hate to be left alone, but if you 
are brave enough to go alone, I must be 
brave enough to stay.” 

After she had made her friend as com¬ 
fortable as possible by making a pillow of 
seaweed for her and bathing the black and 
purple lump on her forehead, Betty turned 
her attention to returning home. It would 
be a terrifying experience, but it would be 
for Myrtle and it would please the Prin¬ 
cess. 

She carefully picked her way up to the 
summit of Hydrada and was beginning at 
the steep descent on the other side when a 
glimpse of the sea beneath made her pause, 
wide-eyed and frightened. The tide! 
Why had they remained so long? The 
water was rushing at a terrifying rate of 


254 THE BROWN CASTLE 

speed through the gully that had made 
them hesitate on the way over. Already 
it was shoulder-deep and much too wide to 
cross. Many of the smaller rocks were 
covered. 

Betty had not noticed the change in the 
weather. She had been worried over dif¬ 
ferent things. With the change of the tide 
had come a breeze, but it was still very hot. 
A thunder-cloud for some time had been 
rolling up in the north. The waves 
slapped up against the rock. Betty re¬ 
turned to the listless Myrtle. She was sit¬ 
ting up against the part of the rock that 
towered against the ledge, and was looking 
decidedly better. Betty had thought of 
nothing but their predicament. 

“Oh, Myrtle!” she sobbed. “The water 
has come up all around us and we can’t get 
back to land.” 

Myrtle scrambled to her feet steadying 
herself against the rock wall. She took 
off the soggy wet shoes to prevent another 



y y 


“Oh, Myrtle! The water has come up all around us 

Page 254. 





HYDRADA 


255 


accident, and in her stocking-feet climbed 
with Betty to the top of the rock. 

“We must scream as loud as we can 
scream,” said Myrtle, taking in the situa¬ 
tion at a single glance. “Perhaps they 
can hear us at the house.” 

They screamed again and again but 
without result. It was too far away. In 
the rising storm their voices did not carry 
to land. Then their spirits failed them 
and they clung together, crying and shiv¬ 
ering. 

The wind increased, churning the waves 
to a creamy foam. The water itself was 
gloomy green, almost black in spots. 
Lightning flashed in zigzag lines across 
the blackness of the clouds. The sky to 
the north and east grew very dark. The 
lightning was followed by deep rumblings 
of thunder. 

The rain fell, at first slowly, in great 
drops. Then it seemed as if the clouds 
burst over their heads and they were 


256 THE BROWN CASTLE 

soaked from head to heel. The waves hit 
against the rock, throwing the spray up 
the side of Hydrada. 

Strange to say, it was Myrtle who was 
the more frightened. At every crash she 
pressed her hands over her ears and 
screamed. Betty held her close. 

“Aren’t you afraid of it?” Myrtle asked 
in some surprise, for it was usually Betty 
who was more timid. 

“I am dreadfully afraid of the rock and 
being cut off from all the land,” re¬ 
plied Betty, “but the storm does not 
frighten me.” 

“Why?” asked Myrtle. 

“Mother taught me not to be afraid of 
storms,” replied her friend softly. “They 
used to frighten me badly, but one day 
Mother took me out on the little piazza of 
our country house. A storm was coming 
up and she told me it was beautiful. She 
said that God sent the thunder-showers 
when it was dreadfully hot to cool the air 


HYDRADA 


257 


and to give water to the thirsty little blades 
of grass. After the storm she showed me 
how beautifully everything was washed. 
I never was afraid after that.” 

“But sometimes things are struck,” per¬ 
sisted Myrtle, shivering at an especially 
loud crash. “Mother told me of a man 
who was killed by lightning or thunder. 
I don’t know which.” 

“Where was he?” asked Betty. 

“In a barn,” was the reply. 

“Barns get hit oftener than houses, and 
trees get hit, too, but my mother told me 
not to be afraid. See, it is getting lighter 
now. The storm is going over.” 

Almost as quickly as it had come, the 
storm cloud rolled away. Betty and 
Myrtle left the shelter of the ledge and 
climbed to the top of the rock. They 
could see the shore plainly since the clouds 
had rolled away. Just hurrying up to the 
piazza was the Princess. She looked wor¬ 
ried. 


258 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


The girls knew that she was worried 
about them. Again they screamed but 
again the wind seemed to choke back their 
voices. Fortunately the Princess looked, 
seaward and saw the two little figures on 
Hydrada. 

She waved a reassuring hand at them 
and hurried around the bend in the path 
to the old farmhouse where Captain Ben 
lived. Captain Ben owned the Bonnie 
Maid and several rowboats. He would be 
able to get them. The girls sighed with 
relief. 

Captain Ben soon appeared. The girls 
watched him as he hurried along the shore 
to the place where the Skipper, his sturdy 
dory, was tied. It was not long before his 
strong arms were sending it toward the 
Hydrada. 

It was hard work to bring the dory be¬ 
tween the submerged rocks to the Hy- 
arada’s side. On one side, only, was ap¬ 
proach possible. Captain Ben, however, 


HYDRADA 


259 


was a clever seaman and carefully and 
cautiously brought the boat across the bot¬ 
tomless pit. The tide had nearly risen to 
the ledge so it was an easy thing to step 
down into the boat. 

The Princess was waiting for them on 
the shore. She looked pale but relieved. 
Without saying a word she put her arms 
about the dripping children and held them 
fast. 

That evening, after they had changed 
into dry clothing, told the Princess of their 
adventures, and had eaten their supper, the 
Princess handed Betty a slip of yellow 
paper with “Western Union” printed on 
the top of it. Betty read aloud: 

“Have located Betty’s trunk. Bring 
her back to open it.” 

“We start back to-morrow,” said the 
Princess. 


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 


THE TRUNK 

T HE next morning there was so 
much work that had to be done 
before they could start that Betty 
had no time to think about the trunk or all 
that its discovery meant to her. The girls 
had been called very early, for the boat 
went shortly after nine. There was much 
to be done, for there was no Aunt Sally to 
pack up the lunch and see that all was left 
in the same beautiful order in which they 
had found things. 

“We will get our dinner in the city,” said 
the Princess. “It will save time.” 

The girls had just a few moments to 
themselves before slipping into their 
traveling-dresses. They ran down to 


THE TRUNK 


261 

thank Captain Ben for rescuing them from 
Old Hydrada. They promised to write a 
letter to him, telling him all about the 
things that happened on the way home. 

“We are going to tell all the other girls 
the stories that you told us,” said Myrtle. 

“We will write and tell you what they 
say,” promised Betty. 

From there they went down to the little 
bay, as they wanted to visit all their favorite 
nooks for one last time. There was the 
place where the buried treasure, a good 
heap of yellow and white quartz stones, 
lay. 

“I wonder if any one will ever discover 
them,” said Betty. “Wouldn’t it be a good 
joke if some one did?” 

Myrtle giggled. 

“The note which we wrote and put in the 
bottle would let them know that it was real 
treasure, gold and diamonds, that they had 
discovered, and signing it in red ink with 
skull and crossbones would let them know 


262 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


it was the deed of murdering pirates,” she 
answered. 

“Speaking about murderers, we must set 
free our captured knights and ladies in 
the aquarium or we shall be honest-to- 
goodness ones,” put in Betty, hastily. 

. It was quite an exciting chase, for the 
crabs and minnows did not know how 
greatly they were being benefited by the 
change. The minnows darted this way 
and that. The crabs put up a gallant 
fight, defending themselves as best they 
could with their sharp little claws. 

“Any one would think we were trying to 
do something awful to them,” said Betty, 
running an exploring forefinger over her 
badly nipped thumb. “This old villain of 
a Sid Darnard is the hardest to catch. I 
have been chasing him for the last five 
minutes.” 

Finally, however, the last crab was 
caught and none too soon for just as they 
watched him scuttle away under the rocks, 


THE TRUNK 


263 


the bell rang summoning them to the 
house to dress for the trip. It was sad to 
go away. Even old Hydrada looked 
more friendly this morning. 

“Fie really did protect us,” said Myrtle 
thoughtfully. “If he had not been so tall 
and had such nice ledges-” 

“Don’t let’s think of it,” begged Betty 
shivering. “All I can see is your white 
face under the water and that gulf of green 
water between us and the shore. It was 
awful, Princess.” 

“I know it must have seemed that way,” 
replied the Princess, “but it is all over now, 
and think what a wonderful adventure it 
will be to tell the other girls and boys.” 

The trip on the boat was delightful and 
the girls enjoyed every moment of it, but 
the city was stifling. The train went soon 
after the boat came in, so there was time for 
only the hastiest of lunches. The heat was 
so intense that it made every one feel life¬ 
less. It was a relief to get on the train. 



264 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


Marjorie promptly went to sleep and 
Myrtle shortly afterward followed her 
example. 

Betty couldn’t sleep. She sat with a 
puckered-up forehead gazing out at the 
flyaway landscape. Houses, trees, ponds, 
and fields slipped by, and although she 
seemed to be looking at them very intently, 
not a single thing did she really see. Her 
thoughts were on the Orphan Asylum of 
her dream, and there was dread in her 
heart. 

“What are you thinking of, Betty-girl?” 
asked the Princess, gently taking the little 
girl’s hand in her own. Betty turned wor¬ 
ried eyes toward her. 

“It’s about the trunk, Princess,” she re¬ 
plied. “I am so afraid that there won’t 
be any relatives, or if there are, they won’t 
want me that I don’t know what to do. 
Grandma always said that I should have 
to go where there were other children that 


THE TRUNK 


265 


no one wanted, and I can’t bear the thought 
of it.” 

Tears were trickling down the little 
girl’s face, making black streaks with the 
car soot that was already there. The 
Princess put a comforting arm about her 
and drew the golden head down until it 
rested on her shoulder, but she hesitated 
a moment before she spoke. 

She longed to tell the little girl that there 
was no cause for worry, that she and the 
King were all ready to keep her forever if 
there were no people of her own, but it was 
not fair to raise the child’s hopes, for after 
all there might be other people, relatives 
who might want the little girl and who had 
the first claim. She only drew the child 
closer. 

“I have been so happy with you,” went 
on Betty. “Ever since I was sick, it has 
been like living in a beautiful dream. It 
has been too good to last.” 


266 THE BROWN CASTLE 

“Things will work out, Betty,” replied 
the Princess softly. “I am sure you need 
not worry. We do not know what will 
happen, but I can promise you that there is 
nothing to dread. Now put your head on 
my shoulder and forget all the things that 
worry and perplex you. Think of how 
much you will have to tell the girls at 
home.” 

Whether the movement of the train or 
the Princess’s soothing words comforted 
her, Betty did not know. She grew 
drowsier and drowsier and then she fell 
sound asleep, and was not awakened until 
the train had nearly reached the station at 
home. 

The King was waiting for them at the 
station. After a hug and a kiss all around, 
he bundled them into the waiting automo¬ 
bile and they were started for the Brown 
Castle. 

Now that they were so nearly home, it 
seemed as if they could hardly wait. 


THE TRUNK 


267 

“How could we ever have gone away?” 
said Betty as they were going around the 
last corner. 

Myrtle was looking at the King. 
“Your eyes are twinkling, and they look 
shiny. Have you got a secret?” she 
asked. 

“Look and see,” said the King, pointing 
towards the house. 

What a pleasant surprise! All the 
dingy brown paint had been scraped and 
a new coat replaced it. Of course the new 
color was brown, also, for otherwise the 
Castle would have to lose its name. But 
the house was not the biggest attraction, 
for there on the lawn were all the friends 
of the Brown Castle. 

Myrtle could hardly wait until the auto 
stopped in front of the gate. Almost be¬ 
fore it had done so, she was out tearing 
across the lawn into the arms of her mother 
who stood with a twin on either side of her. 
Such a kissing and hugging! 


268 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


Luckily Dick had been able to secure a 
substitute and was on hand to meet his lit¬ 
tle sister. It seemed as if things would 
never settle down. Finally the King sug¬ 
gested that the travelers needed rest, so the 
guests dispersed to come back again next 
day. Now the time had come to open the 
trunk that meant so much to Betty. 

The outside was very familiar, for Betty 
remembered the queer lock distinctly. It 
was not a wonderful trunk in appearance, 
for it was old and shabby. 

The lock presented difficulties. In it a 
spider had built his web, and there was no 
key. None had been found among Betty’s 
grandmother’s things. It seemed a sac¬ 
rilege to break the lock, but what was to be 
done? 

Aunt Sally who was an interested spec¬ 
tator of all that was being done solved the 
question. When the discoveries were go¬ 
ing on she had left the room, only to ap- 


THE TRUNK 


269 


pear shortly with a big box of keys of 
assorted sizes and shapes. 

“Dese keys were some I found up in de 
garret when I was cleanin’,” she said im¬ 
portantly. “Dere is about a hundred, an’ 
I miss my guess if one of ’em don’t fit dis 
lock.” 

The King selected one and tried to fit it 
to the lock, but it was too big, another and 
yet another was tried. All failed. 

“Looks as if we should have to try every 
one,” said the King. 

Betty picked up an odd-looking key, tied 
on a bit of faded blue ribbon. It seemed 
of curious pattern and shape. On one 
side were initials engraved upon an in¬ 
laid piece of silver in the shape of a dia¬ 
mond. The initials were R.C. She 
handed it to the King. 

“R.C.,” he exclaimed. “Those were 
my wife’s initials, and this key fitted her 
little wedding trunk. It was about the 


270 THE BROWN CASTLE 

same size as this. Perhaps it will fit.” 

“Let me try it,” said Betty. “I feel sure 
it will fit, and I would like to open it.” 
As she spoke, she inserted the key in the 
hole. It fitted as if it were made for it. 
It took nearly all Betty’s strength to turn 
it over, but a dull click rewarded her at¬ 
tempts. The trunk was unlocked. No 
longer did lock and key bar her from 
knowing her fate. Her hands trembled 
as she lifted the lid. The Princess, Aunt 
Sally, and the King drew closer. 

There was not much to see at first. A 
large piece of newspaper covered the en¬ 
tire contents of the trunk. This upon be¬ 
ing removed disclosed a large black shawl. 
It was of Spanish lace and very beautiful. 
Under the shawl was the dress that Betty 
remembered so well. Her mother put it 
in soon after they came to the city. It was 
of white lawn, sprinkled with yellow rose¬ 
buds. She gathered it up in her arms in 
delight. 


THE TRUNK 


271 


Under it was a letter addressed to Betty 
and bearing the inscription: “Not to be 
opened unless I am called away.” It 
seemed like a message from the dead, and 
Betty wept. The Princess called her at¬ 
tention back to the trunk. For the most 
part the trunk was filled with clothing. 
However, at the very bottom was a square 
bundle wrapped securely and fastened 
with seals. On it also was written, “For 
Betty Anne after I am gone.” 

“ ‘Betty Anne,’ ” said the Princess re¬ 
flectively, “you never told me your name 
was Elizabeth Anne.” 

“Grandma never liked the name, Anne,” 
replied Betty, “but Mother loved it and she 
always used to call me Betty Anne.” 

The seals were soon broken and the bun¬ 
dle unwrapped. Within the wrapping 
was a mahogany box. It was locked, but 
the key was lying flatwise on top. 

At the sight of the box the King started 
violently, and put his hand to his head, but 


272 THE BROWN CASTLE 

no one noticed him. Their eyes were in¬ 
tent upon the box in front of them. The 
lock was not hard to turn, yet Betty hesi¬ 
tated a moment. All her hopes and fears 
were in this box lying upon her lap. 
Whatever was there, it meant a change. 
Perhaps it would mean a loving relative 
who would take care of her and love her 
for her mother’s or her father’s sake, or it 
might be a hateful case of relatives who 
did not want her but who felt that they 
must take her. 

Then she lifted the lid of the box. 
There were a few letters tied up with rib¬ 
bon that she laid in the Princess’s lap. 
That was all, except something wrapped 
in a delicate handkerchief. Betty’s hands 
trembled as she opened it. Like a whisper 
of a memory, so faint that she could hardly 
be sure, she recalled her Mother having 
shown her a piece of lace similar to the 
deep edge about the handkerchief, and 


THE TRUNK 


273 


saying that it was all hand-done by her 
grandmother long ago. 

Every one leaned forward to see what 
the handkerchief contained. In the 
King’s face burned a light so intense as to 
be almost painful. His hands gripped the 
arms of the chair and his face was strained. 

The contents of the packet were amaz¬ 
ing. The faculties of every one seemed 
dazed. Then the Princess swept Betty 
into her arms and held her as though she 
never intended to let her go. The King 
coughed and wiped suspicious drops of 
moisture from his eyes. Aunt Sally 
openly burst into tears. 

Yet the things wrapped up in the hand¬ 
kerchief were not so startling in them¬ 
selves—a worn wedding ring, a small doll 
with a brightly painted china head, and a 
broken bit of jewelry. The doll looked 
very old. Its dress was faded and worn, 
yet held just a trace of its original pink. 


274 


THE BROWN CASTLE 


The bit of jewelry seemed to be a pendant. 
It was broken. It looked as though it 
might have been broken from a chain. In 
the shape of a butterfly, its wings were 
made of small slivers of red stones. 

Betty looked at it in amazement. Some¬ 
where she had seen something very fa¬ 
miliar. Suddenly a light broke upon her. 

“The Lost Princess,” she whispered in 
the ear of her beloved Princess. “The 
other part of the garnet necklace! What 
does it mean?” 

The Princess pushed away the golden 
curls from Betty’s forehead and looked 
gravely into the child’s eyes. It was a 
beautifully tender look. The King rose 
from his seat and put his arms around both 
Betty and the Princess. His face looked 
different, Betty noticed. It was a beauti¬ 
ful look, which made him seem younger. 
It was he who answered. 

“It means that my quest is ended,” he 
said softly. “From the day that I drove 


THE TRUNK 


275 


my girl away from me in anger I have 
grieved. Since I got her last letter I have 
worried over the fate of my little grand¬ 
child, but now the search is over. Betty, 
Betty Anne, come to your grandfather.” 

It was a very happy time. A live fairy 
tale come true. Such lovely things 
couldn’t really happen outside the covers 
of a book. Betty just simply could not be¬ 
lieve it. She went about the house mur¬ 
muring, “I am the Lost Princess Anne. 
I belong here. The King is my grand¬ 
father and the Princess is my cousin. My 
wish has come true. I am going to live 
here forever and ever and ever.” 

Then there was Mother’s letter to read. 
It told the whole story of the separation, the 
mother-love, and it told Betty just what to 
do in case of need. Enclosed was a note 
addressed to the King. He went off all 
by himself to read it. No one saw him 
again until supper time. When he came 
back he looked sad and yet happy, too, 


276 THE BROWN CASTLE 

as Betty expressed it later to the Princess. 

Of course it was too wonderful to be 
kept to one’s self even for one night. Be¬ 
fore eight o’clock the whole neighborhood 
had heard that the little Lost Anne was 
none other than Betty herself, and the 
whole neighborhood was rejoicing over 
her good fortune. 

Just before bedtime the Princess dis¬ 
covered her sitting at the window in her 
own little forget-me-not room. Betty 
jumped up to greet her. After leading 
her to the chair by the window she climbed 
into her lap. 

“Do you know, I have been thinking 
and thinking,” she began. “My Mother 
used to sit at this window and in this very 
chair, too. She used to sleep in this bed 
and write at this cunning little desk. I 
have been sitting here and sleeping and 
writing here for weeks, and I never knew. 
Do you know, I think there was something 
very strange about my dream. I dreamed 


THE TRUNK 


277 


that my mother and I were standing on the 
hill and that you came up to us. Mother 
put my hand in yours and we came down 
together. Perhaps I really did see her, 
and she was trying to tell me that I was go¬ 
ing to belong to you.” 

They sat together as the twilight deep¬ 
ened. A single star shone out above a 
little crescent moon. Betty looked up at 
it and smiled. 

“I have been wishing and wishing on 
that star,” she said reflectively, “but I am 
not wishing any more. I don’t need to, 
for my wish has come true, and I am the 
happiest girl in the world.” 


THE END 


















LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 


□DD 5 D 741 S 1 A 














































































